Up and Out
by Blackkitten23
Summary: Naruto can feel it, Konoha is dead and rotting. The only trustworthy people were killed or forced to leave, but not before giving him the tools he needs to survive in this corrupted village. He and the few friends he has will learn and grow so they can bring back the village that once was. If, that is, they can get passed the obstacles in their way – Harem - Hentai Girl x Boy
1. Confronting a Demon

**I don't own Naruto and I don't make a profit off my stories**

 **Warnings - sexual content, language, violence**

 **(** I'm thinking)  
"I'm speaking"  
 **"Demon / summon / ghost speaking"  
(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)  
**/Author's comments\

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

XXXXXXXXXX

Danzo watched with seemingly little interest as two masked ninjas sparred, one with a red mask and the other white, but despite his impassive appearance he was quite happy with what he was seeing …

(he has improved a great deal in only three years. Konoha may still stand a chance with him watching things from now on) the leader of ROOT thought as two other ninjas joined in and began fighting the smaller ninja in the red mask. He noticed that the red masked ninja found the secret ally in his opponents and subtly to their help while not making it clear that the ninja was on his side.

Reading your opponents carefully and feeling out who you can trust is something he wanted the boy to understand. It will be instrumental in helping him survive in the corrupt village.

A ninja with black goggles ran into the room of the underground hideout and whispered into Danzo's ear "he's here"

The leader's eyes closed, he expected this, but he hated that it had come to this. His eyes opened and he stood up signaling that the match was over "remove your masks" he ordered the ninjas who obediently lined up in front of him. the old ninja finally allowed a smile to appear on his face when the red mask was revealing the smiling face of a blonde blue eyed boy with whisker like marks on his cheeks "you have grown a great deal Naruto and as a present for entering the academy and showing excellent teamwork on your missions"

Naruto grinned "thank you Jiji! I have to find it like my birthday presents, right?" his knew his Jiji likes to make almost everything a test. Naruto had to display his tracking ability to find his presents, but that was ok with him. It was fun and no one has ever bothered to help him before let alone give him presents. These were the only people who treated him like a person and not a monster.

"of course, use the trapdoors this time and good luck" he said as he hugged the ten year old blonde he saw as a grandson.

The boy happily hugged back, but when as he pulled away and headed for the trapdoor he paused … everyone of the other agents remained strictly on guard and there were more agents coming in. Naruto looked back at Danzo "Jiji? What's-"

"you should go Naruto" Danzo urged gently with a smile. The boy nodded hesitantly and finally left through the trapdoor. The ROOT leader frowned "we have little time … the hokage must be stopped. We haven't been able to find the Uchiha ally so there is a chance we won't survive this for those who want to back down leave now just don't lead anyone to Naruto" Danzo saw no one move and nodded.

Moments later Hiruzen Sarutobi was lead into the room "Danzo my good friend, how have things been going?" he asked with a cheery smile.

"nothing new I suppose" Danzo commented as he subtly signaled everyone to stand down.

"that so … " Hiruzen studied Danzo's face for a moment "you have been trying to contact Orochimaru"

"he was my student as well. I want to know what his side of the story is … he just never struck me as the type to use people or even attempt such horrific experiments. His banishment may have been premature" Danzo answered smoothly keeping his one good eye on the hokage.

"it was a very thorough investigation. No stone was left unturned" said Hiruzen with a hint of sadness supposedly for his old student.

"I have no doubt" the ROOT stated calmly.

"then why are you looking into the facilities under the mountain?" Hiruzen asked now dangerously serious.

Danzo frowned "I see … since you are aware of that why don't we drop the pretenses. I know what you are doing. You're the one behind the experiments and most of the corruption in the village … what in god's name are you planning Hiruzen?"

"what do you know? You have no proof, but the stories should be interesting to hear anyway" the hokage smirked. A few ninjas stiffened at the complete lack of respect towards their leader …

"the clan of Uzumakis were left to their own devices during the war when you could've easily helped them. You attempted to make a quick buck by letting a group of Cloud ninjas try to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki and use her as breeding stock. Thankfully that plan went south because of Minato. Speaking of … I don't know how you convinced an Uchiha to remove the nine tailed fox, but it was your doing" Danzo glared at his old friend's face.

Hiruzen shrugged "that's quite a leap. Why would you believe I would kill the fourth hokage?"

"simple … by the time I arrived at the barrier where Minato was sealing the fox into Naruto so I couldn't help in time to do the sealing myself and spare an excellent hokage, but I saw you. You were just standing back waiting. I could tell you were there a while and certainly had plenty of time to break the barrier down, but you didn't … why did you nominate Minato if you were going to kill him?" Danzo asked.

The Sarutobi sighed "no surprise you found out … well I was hoping Minato would be easy to manipulate, but he had no problem taking up the mantel and needed no guidance. Sadly he was quickly dismantling many of my less … legal operations. Granted he never discovered it was me, but it was only a matter of time so I made an alliance with an old acquaintance who has the same goal as mine. He gave me a very gullible fool and that fool took the nine tails out for a stroll and I trapped Minato and Kushina in the barrier leaving them no choice but to seal the demon in their son who will make a very obedient weapon to help in my goals … it would be a shame to have to fight an old friend so since me and my partner are planning on forming one entire nation under our rule how about a large plot of land in the village of Hot Water?"

A spark of anger raced through Danzo at the attempt to bribe him "I intend to incapacitate you, rip your memories from your skull, make a copy and getting you kicked out of those robes" all the ROOT agents surrounded the hokage who seemed too smug considering the situation …

"I'm afraid I need this position for a little while longer … shame, I would've like to have you with me my old friend, but really I expected this response. You were always too into this Will of Fire and peace bullshit our senseis spouted on and on about" the hokage sighed as the two ninjas behind him took hold of him roughly by the arms … and were promptly slaughtered by someone who appeared in the center of the room.

Danzo's eyes widened "Madara … how?" the man looked just as he did years ago when he betrayed his village. That however was decades ago … he should be dead!

"I used the body of young child and attached my soul to it. When I had the chance I took the eyes of my corpse and have been body hopping ever since" the Uchiha founder said all to casually. All the ROOT ninjas including Danzo went on to attack. Madara just smirked as he dodged dozens of weapons.

With a set of barely visible hand signs Madara let loose a wave of fire. Once the fir died down the hokage and Madara saw Danzo was fine and saved six ROOT ninjas "Hashirama and Tobirama trained you well … it would've been nice to have you on my side"

The leader of ROOT glared "that will never happen-" he sensed someone appear behind them, but had no chance to do anything to stop his men from being killed. With that split second of distraction Madara shot forward and slashed Danzo's stomach wide open.

The person came out of the darkness just as Danzo fell to his knees gushing blood "you will die for taking my sensei's life" Danzo's vision started to blur, but his still saw the newcomer. It was the masked man who was seen controlling the nine tailed fox all those years ago. What the hell was he talking about? "my sensei would've come for me and Rin, but he didn't. that's because you killed him and had one of your brainwashed men pose as him" the one eyed Uchiha removed his mask revealing himself to be none other than Obito Uchiha.

"that's right Obito" Hiruzen said sadly, but smirked at Danzo. Inoichi walked into the complex smirking too. Obito was being fooled. Danzo couldn't believe it.

Danzo glanced at the hidden camera in the room before shutting his eyes (Naruto look carefully … this is the darkness in this village. The darkness you must get past to survive. Live, grow and be safe Naruto) Obito slashed Danzo's throat and he fell to the floor dead.

"now we need to do something about the Uchiha clan" said the hokage as he stepped past his old friend's bloody body …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto found the end of the trail at the waterfall near the edge of the village hidden deep in the Backhills "cool" he spotted a seal when he checked behind the curtain of water and carefully activated it. He yelped as the rock wall flew open and he fell into the room. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked around the massive complex.

There were ten bedrooms, a monitoring room with extra cameras and screens, a huge dojo, a weapons room filled with weapons and training dummies and a fully stocked infirmary next to the kitchen. The entire place was run by seals even the lights. There was ven a huge library with lots of scrolls on every subject … even a copy of the Forbidden Scroll "so cool, a new training complex … what's this?" he spotted a scroll on the kitchen table and opened it …

 _Dear Naruto,_

 _I thought it was time for you to have your own training place since you have been improving so quickly. Just be sure to brush your teeth and eat your vegetables. If I am able I will be checking in on you, but there is a chance that I won't be able to. The reason I told you about this present is because I will be confronting the hokage about his misdeeds. If things go badly, as I suspect they would, then I had to make sure you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire._

 _When I found you half dead three years ago I took you in to protect you. In time you became my student and my grandson. You contain a demon, but you were never a monster. You must survive for you're one of the few people left in Konoha who knows the truth about the decaying face behind the village's peaceful mask and if you are found out they will kill you. I wanted to try and bring back the truly loving and peaceful, but if the red light in the monitoring room turns on then I failed._

 _I want you to live your life. Don't let your goals become mine unless that's what you want. Just be smart and careful. I left you disguises and my mission contacts in case you want to find work or to run from village. My hawk contract is in the library._

 _Farewell,_

 _Your Jiji, Danzo_

Naruto wiped a few tears from his eyes and ran to the monitoring room praying that the red light Danzo mentioned would not be on …

There it was … blinking on the dashboard. Naruto felt his blood run cold and he fell to his knees. After a moment he steeled his nerves and played the tape …


	2. Ambush

**I don't own Naruto and I don't make a profit off my stories**

 **Warnings - sexual content, language, violence**

 **(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **"Demon / summon / ghost speaking"**

 **(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author's comments\

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

There it was … blinking on the dashboard. Naruto felt his blood run cold and he fell to his knees. After a moment he steeled his nerves and played the tape …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi and Inoichi looked through the glass window from the hospital hallway at the young black hair boy with black eyes laying on the bed. The bandaged boy was staring out of the window at he sky in a daze …

"has he said anything?" asked Inoichi as he turned his attention to the file in his hand.

"no … Sasuke Uchiha was found at the center of the compound the morning after his family was murdered in the same catatonic state as now. That was two days ago" Sarutobi said as he examined the child from the distance.

Inoichi nodded "in the middle huh … his file says he has a head injury, how did that happen and what are these fires about?"

"we don't know about the injury. I consulted the anbu involved, but all of them say they didn't see Sasuke at the time of the incident. The fires happened because several people were preparing dinner when we attacked. One stove burner caused a fire when a towel fell, which is a shame since it took the Uchiha library with it. All that information gone" the hokage whispered as a nurse passed.

"but Itachi got away. Is it at all possible that the Uchiha heir knocked Sasuke out and hid him. If Sasuke recovered later and emerged from where he was hidden he probably became catatonic after seeing the bodies of his relatives laying around … you did leave a mess" Inoichi hissed under his breath.

The hokage frowned and answered quietly "it could not have been helped. A few of my men were killed by Itachi and the clean up there took precedence"

"I understand, can't have anyone knowing your men were involved. Sasuke probably stumbled out when you were disposing of your men … since you haven't killed him yet I assume you want to keep him so what do you want me to make him believe?" Inoichi asked quietly.

The hokage smirked "see what he knows first. If it's too much then he'll die like his nosy father, if it's only who was involved with his clan's death then change his memories to make him believe his own brother did it. I already labeled him a missing nin and charged him with murdering his clan"

"no problem" Inoichi handed the file over to the hokage before heading into the hospital room. The mind walker took a seat in the chair next to the bed "Sasuke … I'm so sorry for what has happened …" he paused and waited for any reaction, but there was none. Sasuke continued staring out the window with only the occasional blink as a sign of life. He leaned in and gently touched the boy's forearm "Sasuke I know you're going through an unimaginably difficult time, but we need you're help to find out who took your family from you" the mind walker said calmly and with a kindness that would make anyone think he was on their side.

Sasuke finally moved, but only to look up at the ceiling " _monster_ " he whispered harshly.

Inoichi mentally frowned, did the boy know and was calling him a monster or was it something else? "who is Sasuke? You can talk to me"

" _my brother … he's a monster_ " Sasuke clenched his fists in the sheets as tears rolled down his cheeks.

The Yamanaka mentally smirked, this may be going better than they expected, which may mean if he plays his cards right they will have another Uchiha on their side "Itachi is the monster? Sasuke please, we started investigating and your account of what happened would be most useful"

Sasuke closed his eyes tightly and remained quiet for some time before finally opening them to reveal black eyes filled with hate "I was coming home from school … I was late because I volunteered to help clean along with that class clown Naruto who ditched half way through leaving me with everything … when I finally got home I was late. Everyone was in their homes.. I ran to my home and when I opened the door my mother looked at me looked at me and I was sure I would be in trouble for being so late, but then …"

"it's ok, take your time" Inoichi said as he gently rubbed the boy's hand with his thumb in a manner that would be comforting.

"she looked so scared" Sasuke gulped trying to stop a sob down "she suddenly ran to me and pulled me towards her clutching me to her chest as she spun around … I heard something and she collapsed on me. I remember a sound and screaming" Sasuke clenched his jaw in anger "she had three kunais in her back and Itachi was standing there covered in blood. I got out from under … mother's b-body… I started screaming at him and he knocked me away so hard that I blacked out … " Sasuke bit his lip so hard that he could taste the metallic blood flooding his mouth, but it didn't matter "when … when I finally came to I … I think I was under the house near the koi pond and I walked out … everyone was dead! He murdered everyone!"

Inoichi sighed "then it's true. We suspected as much as we were investigating, but we needed your account of what you saw … yes your brother killed everyone. We unfortunately we have yet to figure out why, but we're working on it. It was only luck that our anbu came when they did. It's most likely what kept him from killing you in your unconscious state. We were at fault for not realizing that you were there before … before you saw such a horrific sight and we couldn't stop your brother from burning down the half of your home among other houses for that we are sorry"

Sasuke glanced at him with anger, but calmed slightly "fire, I think I remember there being smoke, but don't remember exactly … just blood and … my parents, aunt… everyone … dead … I want to move out of the Uchiha residence and I want to have a personal training ground the one in the Backhills. I will kill that … monster"

"of course, but please rest and recover first before doing anything too reckless" Inoichi mentally smirked at the scowl on the boy's face. Hate, a need for revenge, these are things that make the perfect puppet. He bid the boy farewell and rejoined the hokage back in the hallway "it went far better than we expected he completely miss read his brother's intentions to keep him safe" as they returned to the privacy of the hokage's office.

"yes it was, but do you think it's weird that he asked for the very training field his brother trained in?" asked Sarutobi as he took his seat.

"no, if anything it confirms his hate. By training in that ground he's attempting to get strong like his brother and surpass him. I do believe we have another ally" the mind walker smirked.

XXXXXXXXXX

Late at night Sasuke saw someone land next to his bed "you shouldn't be here Naruto, but since you are you should know they bought it … is Itachi safe?

 **Flashback**

Iruka sighed in frustration as the blonde demon continued to fail his jutsu "Naruto you stay after class and clean up" the blonde whined making the instructor twitch in annoyance.

"I'll help Iruka-sensei" Sasuke said and with the professor's permission the rest of the class left the two to clean. It was only taking all the practice kunai out of their landing spots, which were nowhere near the target sign and sweeping up the leaves used in chakra control practice.

Sasuke only wanted to know a little more about the class clown. It struck him as odd that they've only been in class a couple days, but … he didn't want to believe it, but it seemed like the teachers were trying to sabotage the blonde. He asked his brother if there were any reasons for someone having bad chakra control and that that person could have too much chakra to handle or not enough, but if that was true shouldn't the teachers be helping Naruto more? Also he noticed the instructors glare at the blonde when they thought no one was looking and he wanted to know what was going on …

"hey Naruto why don't we hang out later-" the Uchiha turned and saw that Naruto cut his thumb when picking up a kunai "guess these training kunais aren't as dull as the instructors say …" Sasuke noticed the happy blonde was staring at the blood trickle from the cut. Naruto seemed … heartbroken and very distant all of a sudden as if he was remembering something painful "you ok?" Sasuke asked softly.

Naruto snapped back to reality and suddenly all that pain was replaced perfectly by a cheesy grin "yep! I'll just get a bandage!" the blonde darted off into the school quickly and returned a minute later with a white bandage. Now the young Uchiha was really curious … the blonde was just too good at hiding his emotions.

An hour later Sasuke found himself following Naruto out the door "you want to hangout?"

"sure … I just wanted to check on something" the blonde strolled off into the forest into the forest with Sasuke and not much later Naruto quietly told him to be silent as he moved a bush.

The raven gasped "baby foxes" he whispered as he watched the six small red tuffs cuddling with their mother. The mother fox clearly had no problem Naruto's presence, but was watching Sasuke warily. Sasuke stayed back a bit so as not to make the mother nervous, but no doubt enjoyed seeing the fluffy kits. He always wanted to see a fox, but the poor creatures were never seen here.

What Sasuke didn't know is that the villagers have been taking every opportunity to kill the creatures as they could in some twisted means of payback for what the nine tails did.

"uh oh, it's late. I really should get back" said Sasuke as he noticed the sky.

"whoops … follow me, I know a path to the Uchiha compound" Naruto grinned and Sasuke followed and only a few minutes later they saw the gates.

"wow, I have to remember that path" Sasuke smiled "thanks Naruto-hey" the blonde grabbed his arm in a vice like grip stopping him from Uchiha district. He would've said something about it, but then he saw the blonde's face … there was no cheer, no grin and no happiness only a deadly seriousness that rivaled Itachi when he's in a bad mood.

Naruto sniffed the air and frowned "stay here" Naruto's tone left no room for an argument and the stunned Uchiha stayed as the blonde went in. that's when he heard a scream in the distance and ran into the district. He vaguely heard Naruto shout "Don't Sasuke!", but it was too late …

The bodies of his blood soaked aunt and cousins caught his eye and he took off running with his mother and father in mind …

Sasuke could hear fighting in the distance as he entered the house "NO! Mom, Dad!" he fell to his knees in the large puddle of blood next to his parents bodies and started crying. It didn't matter that he had blood on his knees, he just held his mother's cold hand.

"looks like I found another one" Sasuke spun around and saw an anbu standing in the doorway with a bloody katana pointed right at him. The young Uchiha tried to run, but he was fast enough. A hard kick to the gut sent him flying through the wall where he landed next to the koi pond. The warm blood pouring from the open wound on his head trickled into his eyes blurring his vision.

The anbu stepped closer clearly intending to kill him …

The katana was raised …

Sasuke knew he was going to die, but then the anbu's head went flying away from his body. Blood gushed from the gaping wound and the fresh corpse fell to the ground revealing Naruto with a bloody knife.

"you're stubborn" Naruto draped the raven over one shoulder and effortlessly carried Sasuke back into the house so he wouldn't be seen. Sasuke's eyesight was fading, but he suddenly saw Itachi run in to the house and clash blades with the blonde. Naruto blocked the blade six times with his eyes closed and said something that made Itachi freeze …

Itachi glanced at his brother "take care of him"

"I will" Naruto nodded and Sasuke passed out. Next time he woke up he was in an infirmary of an underground complex hidden in the Backhills. Naruto had healed him and tried to get him to go find his brother at a meeting spot, but he refused … he decided to go back and play the catatonic victim …

 **Flashback Over**

"yeah I got in contact with him last night … he is headed towards an ally … he respects your decision to stay, but he hates that he had to leave you behind. A decision like that can't easily be taken back" Naruto frowned.

"I know … you had to heal me or I wouldn't have lived, but I choose to try and stay here and play the young naïve vengeful fool, which I don't regret even though you had to make a new wound on me and start some fires to fudge the evidence. It will give us an advantage that that bastard won't see coming" Sasuke sighed, he missed his brother.

Naruto noticed the flash of homesickness "you could still leave before it gets too difficult" he figured Sarutobi would place guards on Sasuke for a while after leaving the hospital to make sure he's truly controlled, which won't make escaping easy.

"no, I won't let you get all the fun in knocking Sarutobi off his pedestal. You're stuck with me. We do we do next?" Sasuke asked.

"we get surveillance up, train and learn. I saved everything in your family's library so we do that in secret, but outside we play our parts well" Naruto said and disappeared as a nurse entered the room …


	3. Snake Revealed

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"we get surveillance up, train and learn. I saved everything in your family's library so we do that in secret, but outside we play our parts well" Naruto said and disappeared as a nurse entered the room …

XXXXXXXXXX

"SASUKE! WAIT FOR ME MY LOVE!"

The Uchiha froze in fear as he recognized the shrill voices of a group of maniacal fangirls coming towards him. Unfortunately he has only been out of the hospital one day so he was far too weak to evade capture, but he had to try. After taking a deep breath he took off running as fast as he could …

The chase lasted a few minutes and poor Sasuke was starting to feel sick. This was not something he should have to deal with in his condition. A gold flash caught his attention as it went towards an alley. This alley way offered a possible escape. With his head pounding from his wounds he raced down the dark alley. Sadly the creepy route did absolutely nothing to deter the crazy fans.

Screams of the mob echoed through the alley as Sasuke quietly, but quickly raced to the other end of the dark alley. Finally he stumbled out into the road, but ran right into someone. The glimpse of gold was seen again and he realized that it was the person laying on the ground. A person that he knew by the way … It was Naruto! He hasn't seen Naruto since that night in the hospital and he hoped to see him again.

The blonde was scowling childishly at him as he stood up … no one would've suspected that the boy was actually dangerous "watch where you're going jerk!" Naruto's eyes narrowed subtly in a silent warning when Sasuke was about to say sorry.

"Hn whatever" Sasuke huffed keeping true to the role they agreed on after collecting himself. This was going to take some getting used to. He didn't like being a jerk, but he knew Naruto was fine so he turned away and left. He never saw Naruto put up a genjutsu to make the mob think they ran into a dead end, but he did notice that he was safe.

Now he had one question on his mind …

Why the hell was he tossed out of the hospital and made to walk all the way to a house in the Backhills by himself?!

Granted no one knew about him being near fatally injured, healed by a ten year old ROOT agent and getting deliberately injured again in order to fake a mental breakdown, but they did believe he was injured and comatose from the shock of losing his family … doesn't that deserve an escort?!

"damn bunch of crazy women" Sasuke grumbled as he came to a simple one-story house. The hokage dropped by the hospital as they were checking him out and gave him the deed to the place. It was only a little ways away from the training ground he requested and it was perfect as a secluded place for planning. He opened the door and went in, but as he looked around he felt his mood lighten considerably. There was plenty of food in the kitchen, warm freshly cleaned blankets in the linen closet and everything was spotless. Clean sheets in his favorite blue color were on the bed and there was even wood in the storage spot next to the fireplace for the coming cold months …

Everything was prepared for his being there, but while that did make sense in a way it was not what the hokage told him would be the case. In fact when the two faced bastard stopped by the hospital to give Sasuke the deed to the place he said he had no clue what condition the place was in. Since Sarutobi clearly didn't care enough to help him get there the Uchiha doubted that he arranged this. It's because of this reasoning he wasn't all that surprised to find a certain blonde in the basement …

"thanks for earlier and all this too" Sasuke said gratefully.

Naruto shrugged as he placed the last book on the shelf "that was no problem. You shouldn't have been running around like that any way. The original injuries you suffered would've been strained, but technically that was the boss who diverted those insane fangirls of yours not me"

"boss? Oh, you're a shadow clone then. Itachi mentioned that technique, but he said it takes a lot of chakra to use it consistently" Sasuke commented as he thought about his brother. A wave of sadness hit him, but he pushed it away and just tried to focus on the good things … his brother was alive, that's what matters …

"the boss has a massive amount of chakra so he was able to watch you and get this place together, but that's not why I'm here. I stayed because the boss noticed that you have guards. A team of three anbu level ninjas are following you" the clone warned.

Sasuke twitched in irritation and his teeth clenched "there were people watching me run for my life"

The clone nodded "yes, but it seems they aren't for protection. The boss knew this would happen and that Sarutobi would want to make sure you aren't faking. Those guards are to report on you not help you. Unfortunately that means the boss can't take you to his complex until they're gone. He already took a big risk stepping in today and don't apologize for that" the blonde quickly added before the Uchiha could even get a word out.

"fine, but how long will this last?" Sasuke asked curiously. He wanted to recover and start training right away, but he can't even safely meet up with Naruto with these guards stalking him everywhere he goes.

The blonde tilted his head back and forth as he pondered the question "there's no way to tell for sure, but it won't be permanent. When the boss is sure you aren't being followed he will get in contact again. If you have anything you want to send Itachi then write it and put it in this book. See this seal?" the clone pulled a normal looking brown book off the shelf and opened it …

The raven nodded as he saw the seal on the inside of the cover "I see it. So I just place any letter against that and Naruto will get it"

"Exactly. Once you leave the boss will slip in to get it and send it to Itachi. If you want to start training start with extending your senses and chakra when you're down here. I hid the scrolls for some exercises in these books and placed a seal on the walls so they can't sense any strange flickers of chakra. It may sound dull, but when you learn to sense you will be able to know when to act. Besides you shouldn't do anything too rough until you recover … and Sasuke" Sasuke looked from the books to the clone "the boss knows what it's like to lose someone important to you"

That was all the clone said before it dispelled itself. Sasuke frowned as he realized what the clone meant. That explains why Naruto seemed sad that time weeks ago when he cut himself. It wasn't the cut itself or the blood that made the blonde sad. No, it was the memory. Naruto lost someone he cared about in a horrific bloody situation like his. A situation lead by Sarutobi no doubt …

That man would pay for they lives he destroyed Sasuke vowed to himself as he found each training scroll. The scrolls were hidden in storage seal hidden in between the pages. After carefully reading each scroll and the tips someone scribbled into the margins he practiced a little bit. Of course he couldn't practice for very long since the guards might suspect something …

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi came up to an opening into the ground that lead to an underground complex. It was almost surreal that he was going to this man for help. Yes, he trusted Naruto and he did know his father was starting to suspect the hokage, but has everyone been so wrong about their loving leader? Was the believed traitor really the one to be trusted here?

The only way to know for sure is to go in and find out, but as he descended the stairs he started to wonder if he got the wrong underground complex. If this was right why are there so many kids running around? The great evil snake didn't run a daycare, did he? The Uchiha just stood there and blinked as he watched the group of 10 children ranging from 6 to 13 years old mess around with a game board as a few older ninjas watched them …

"YOU FUCKING CHEATED!" snapped a 12 year old girl with dark pink almost red hair as she pointed accusingly at the girl with patches of shimmery fish scales on her arms.

"Tayuya stop swearing! Ladies don't swear!" an older burly teen said in annoyance.

"SHUT UP FATSO-HEY! PUT ME DOWN TENZO!" Tayuya yelled.

The brown haired ninja with odd black eyes shock his head as he carried the girl away by her collar "nope. I warned you several times about calling Jirobo names so now you get a timeout and if you keep swearing I'll tell Orochimaru. He might just take away dessert again" Tenzo said effectively making the sulking girl stay quiet as she was dragged to her room. Just as he was taking Tayuya away he noticed that there was a guest "Orochimaru's lab is that way. He should be there" he said to Itachi knowing that only those carrying a special seal could get in so this guy must be an ally.

Itachi nodded a little dazed and confused "thank you"

Tayuya shot Itachi a look "are you a guy or a girl?" she asked making Itachi gape.

Tenzo twitched "that's rude Tayuya. You just earned another hour to your timeout"

The Uchiha blinked as the girl was dragged away. After shaking himself from his stupor he went down the hall Tenzo pointed down. It only took a few minutes to find a lab where the one and only snake sage was looking through some documents on his desk.

"Itachi … Naruto told me you were coming. His said he didn't have time to explain or even tell you about the seal he placed on you" Orochimaru looked up and snorted in amusement at the look of shock on Itachi's face "it's nothing serious. The seal allows you to enter this place without setting off alarms"

"I see" Itachi said still surprised that Naruto even got a seal on him without him noticing, but that must've been because he was reeling over his family's brutal murder it hard to think straight. Hell, he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Naruto was the masked ROOT agent he sparred with on occasion. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that that blonde prankster running around the village was a ROOT agent! He had no clue until he fought Naruto that night of the attack.

Orochimaru sighed "Itachi, I know you suffered a terrible loss, but your brother Sasuke is safe … as safe as anyone can be in that village at least"

Itachi frowned at that comment "my father started having his suspicions about things in the village and a few days later everyone is slaughtered … what the hell s going on? Why did Naruto send me to you, the banished traitor that was experimenting on people? Why is he even a ROOT agent? I heard they all died in an accident days before the attack on my clan! And why are you running a daycare?"

The snake sage waited for Itachi to calm down and gave him some tea before explaining "as you know Naruto is the demon vessel for the nine tailed fox, but what you may not know is that he was badly abused by the villagers. Danzo hated that and took him in after one terrible beating. After that Naruto became his apprentice and that's why he is as he is … Naruto knows I'm trustworthy because I was one of the ones who helped him heal. Someone poisoned him during the beating and Danzo contacted me for help. It was only a few months later I was accused of experimenting on people and banished"

"accused? So you claim to be innocent? How do I know if that's true?" Itachi asked trying to watch for any sign of a lie.

"the fact that a team of Leaf anbu were the ones who killed your family isn't enough to make you rethink the loyalty who had in the hokage?" the sight of the young Uchiha flinching made the snake sage frown "I'm sorry, that was out of line. I always knew my former sensei was a bastard so I tend to forget most people fall for his act. The fact is I can't prove it unless I allow you to discuss it with those kids out there … they were the ones being experimented on. After the discovery of some animals mysteriously dying it became clear that toxic chemicals seeping into the water from somewhere. The source turned out to be some illegal labs under the hokage mountain. I didn't even bother telling Satutobi about it, which is why I'm alive. I took those children from those tanks or cells got them away. Kidnapping is my only crime no matter what Sarutobi claims"

To say Itachi's mind was spinning was an understatement. For a while he just stared into his tea trying to make sense of everything "could I talk to them?"

Orochimaru glared protectively at the idea "perhaps ... most of them refuse to talk about it … Tenzo might, he is the oldest, but do not force him to. Beyond that there is one thing that might convince you … it's a security tape Naruto sent me … it shows the last moments of Danzo and all of ROOT"

A sickening feeling settled in the pit of Itachi's stomach and for good reason …


	4. Missions

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

A sickening feeling settled in the pit of Itachi's stomach and for good reason …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto glanced out the window during class and noticed the anbu guards leaving. It took a while for Sasuke's guard to finally be relieved of their duties … three months to be exact.

(too much time and all of it was poorly handled) … those were the words that came too the young ROOT agent's mind. After all everyone was under the assumption that Sasuke was just a kid with no connections in the village beyond obsessive fangirls or villagers that like to suck up to the Uchiha who is now the sole heir of a fortune and a powerful bloodline.

There was no reason to watch the kid so long if they didn't suspect something, but if they suspect something they would've search Sasuke's new home. Not one of the seals protecting Sasuke's house and training area have been tripped however. So though no one searched the house for hidden messages, which is something Danzo trained Naruto to do, they took their observations of solely the kid into account. They weren't looking underneath the underneath and assumed they were seeing everything as is just because they extended their investigation time.

Quantity, however, does not make up for quality …

It was arrogant to assume you're seeing everything and can take anything at face value …

Yes, truly arrogant and Naruto intended to take full advantage of that fatal flaw …

Later that day Naruto went into the streets and made his way to the apartment he was 'allowed' to have courtesy of the hokage. It was a run down place filled with trash that had threats painted in blood on the walls. No one was safe here really. In fact, Naruto never does. Before he met Danzo and had the hidden training compound he slept in a crawl space under the apartment building. It was warm from the other buildings nearby and wasn't in the open where the civilians could easily find him. Only once in a while he returns and leaves a clone to establish that he still comes here … and to take the brunt of the villagers' wrath.

Moments after he disappeared into the forest he felt a mental tug from his clone. The villagers attacked his apartment and were torturing the clone. The clone will survive for a day so Naruto didn't have to worry about getting caught. With the villagers distracted he left …

As he went to the opposite side of village where Sasuke lived he tooka detour and noticed a pop of pink hair. Naruto went completely unseen as he moved closer to his pink haired classmate from the safety of the trees just like he had a few times in the past month. Sakura Haruno was the self proclaimed leader of Sasuke's fangirls … and some fanboys too. What the blonde was seeing completely contradicted the weak naïve book smart fangirl impression she gave in class …

" _stupid … arrogant … emo bastard!_ " Sakura snapped as she bashed the picture of Sasuke tact to the tree so hard it cracked the tree in half. Naruto watched the girl pant in exhaustion for a couple minutes " _at least he's profitable_ " she snickered as she grabbed a bottle of water that was on the boulder nearby next to a box lunch and a bag. She started eating and looking through some pictures of Sasuke …

(oh she's not in a good mood today … I should warn Sasuke) Naruto thought feeling a little nervous even though he could defend himself against the pissed off pinkette.

The ROOT agent did careful background checks on all of his classmates after the Uchiha massacre to see if anyone was a spy. He always thought Sakura's actions were off. As if she was pretending to swoon over Sasuke though it never struck him as anything important, but after the background check he found that Sakura's entire family was killed 4 years ago including her aunt who was on the council.

The council was disbanded right after the deaths and now all that remains is a couple advisors. It struck him as odd that a civilian family was killed in the village and that of a councilmember to boot. With a bit more digging he found that Sarutobi may have had a hand in that. The evidence his Jiji put in the library for him implied that he was correct … and somehow Sakura knew that too.

It seems Sakura's aunt was usually the tie breaker during votes and had ties to influential merchants who didn't care for certain things that Sarutobi wanted to do. She always seemed to side against Sarutobi and that might have been the motive for killing her. As usual the hokage went overboard and slaughtered everyone under the guise of a random break in gone very wrong. They were civilians and stood no chance. Using the shift in power the entire council was removed. Of course the civilians weren't happy, but the clan heads liked the idea not realizing that they gave all the power to the last person who should have it. Naruto didn't see the announcement, but Danzo kept a video of the hokage 'humbly' accepting all the power … the old bastard is a hell of an actor if nothing else.

After discovering that he kept track of Sakura's movements. Sakura was definitely playing the game just like he and Sasuke, but a little over two months ago she almost got caught because of her temperr. Naruto saw her about to attack Sarutobi who was giving a speech to that year's graduates and used an emergency paintball bomb to distract her. The bomb hit the stage and exploded sending hundreds of smaller paint balls everywhere. Everything, hokage included, was covered in paint. The ROOT agent laughed as loud as he could to distract everyone from Sakura whose anger dissolved into snickers.

With a shake of his head as he heard the girl ponder what price to sell her next batch of pictures at he decided to leave. He raced into the Backhills and waited in Sasuke's home. It took a while, but Sasuke eventually made his way into the house.

"I don't sense anything, but I can't tell some times. Are they gone?" Sasuke asked as he spotted Naruto sitting in a chair in the living room.

"yeah …" Naruto sweat dropped as he realized Sasuke was sensing Sakura ... and maybe an anbu guard that wasn't taking his job seriously "they left this afternoon. I'll show you where I stay and train" Sasuke grinned and followed Naruto out of the house "behind the waterfall? … cool" the young Uchiha peeked behind the waterfall and frowned when he saw nothing. It was just solid rock.

Naruto chuckled at the perplexed expression on Sasuke's face "look up … you see that mark behind that moss covered rock?"

The raven tiptoed onto the ledge behind the curtain of water. He could feel Naruto support him to keep him from slipping. The gesture reminded him of his brother. Always right there trying to keep him from getting hurt. After shooing away the thoughts he focused on the mossy rock Naruto pointed out. It was subtle, but he could just make ut the shape of an odd mark on the stone surface. A mark that did not belong there.

"is that a seal?" Sasuke asked vaguely recalling something that looked like it in school and on his brother's and late father's scrolls.

Naruto nodded not surprised that Sasuke identified it, but this will be only the beginning. Sasuke will have to improve fast and get better at spotting these things "yes … put your chakra in your fingertips and press it. I already put your chakra in the seal network so it will respond to you"

Sasuke focused on pushing his chakra into his fingers and reached over to touch the mark. This would be easier for the slightly taller blonde, but the raven managed to touch the mark and promptly yelped as a door opened suddenly "thanks Naruto" Sasuke said when the ROOT agent grabbed his shirt to keep him from falling flat on his face. When he steadied himself he went inside "awesome" he exclaimed in astonishment as he looked at the huge room.

The waterfall that hid this place was very tall, Several stories tall in fact and they entered at the base of the solid rock formation. This made it possible walk right into a large fully furnished cavern. It was a living room and entertainment room with a spot to put your coats, shoes and a spot for injuries to be quickly tended to before being taken to the infirmary. They walked around and Naruto showed him everything. Sasuke was thrilled to see everything Naruto managed to save from Uchiha compound was safe in the library.

"so can we begin training?" Sasuke asked seriously. He wanted to get stronger soon.

"sure … hand to hand and strength first. I use a gravity and resistance seal on my body so would you like to start there?" Naruto asked as he took Sasuke to the dojo.

"I like the sound of that" the raven said as he allowed Naruto to place a seal on his back right under his right shoulder blade. Though Naruto started at a very low level it was clear that Sasuke could feel the effects.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi looked up as a team of anbu appeared "your report" he demanded.

The anbu with a mouse mask stepped up to begin the report "Sasuke Uchiha has shown no signs of anything unusual. His behavior has remained the same as he has continued demonstrating arrogance towards his classmates and keeping his grades up as high as possible. It's clear he is hell bent on becoming stronger in order to defeat his brother. He even went against doctor's orders and started training early though he just practiced throwing kunai at targets and trained with the wooden dummies provided"

Technically Naruto has been watching and helping Sasuke heal a little bit fast so Sasuke was perfectly safe …

"that's good to hear. Has he been attempting to communicate with anyone outside the village?" the hokage asked. The last thing he needed was for the brat to learn anything contradicting facts before he's sure he had the Uchiha under his thumb.

"no hokage-sama. Sasuke has been far to focused on training to establish any basic social connections let alone find notable lines of communication for information. The teachers have trouble just getting him to work with his peers. Any information he bothers looking for is in the village so anything he knows can be tweaked easily and he won't know" Mouse said simply.

Again if they had just taken a closer look at the house when Sasuke wasn't around. Naruto has picked up and delivered 20 letters for Sasuke and brought several letters to him from Itachi …

"good, you're mission is complete. Dismissed" Sarutobi ordered. A cruel smirk appeared on his face as he thought of his future weapons. The Uchiha will grow into a loyal mindless murdering machine as long as he dangles the chance at getting revenge in front of him. The demon brat, though may be a touch wild now, will soon join the cause in order to have people respect him. Of course the demon vessel will never be seen as human. Sarutobi secretly convinced most of the village he was a demon and that will never change, but it will make for great motivation. With the villagers beating him and the two 'nice' ramen chefs the hokage has drugging him to influence his moods the demon will soon submit.

With Madara and Inoichi on his side, those idiotic council members out of the way and those weapons, Sasuke, Obito and Naruto, everything is slowly coming to fruition …

XXXXXXXXXX

"I warned you not to over do it" Naruto muttered as he came back to the dojo after leaving to cook dinner, which was only a few minutes, but somehow Sasuke wore himself down to the point where he couldn't even stand …

"I didn't" Sasuke argued weakly as he fell flat on the ground.

Naruto wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or that Sasuke added too much chakra to the seal to raise it, but the raven was having a hell of a time trying to get up "really?" the blonde sounded very amused as Sasuke seemed to fall limp as he gave up trying to move "need some help or should I take it that the cake is all mine?"

Sasuke's strength magically returned at the mention of sweets and he tried getting up "I could use a little help" he quickly admitted so he wouldn't be left out of the meal.

The ROOT agent supported Sasuke with a shoulder and helped him walk "as long as your incapacitated I should tell you something. I'll be going on a mission in a couple days. It should take at least a week since I'm going to Sand"

"Sand? Is that wise considering Sand is an ally of Konoha? I mean we're secretly trying to over throw the hokage and, being an ally, wouldn't Sand be against that? If you're caught …" Sasuke trailed off as his thoughts immediately went to the absolute worst possibility, which was Naruto getting caught, tortured and killed.

"calm down, I'm just doing a basic delivery mission not something that will be considered treasonous if I was questioned" Naruto chuckled hiding his true motive, he was going to complete a mission, but he was going to take that opportunity to see what sort of relationship the treaty between the villages was based on … and if he can mess with it so Sarutobi had less allies "I actually have a mission for you while I'm gone. It will be a good test of your skills"

The raven looked excited "sure what is it?"

"I think your fangirl leader isn't what she claims … Sakura is actually forming the fangirl and fanboy mobs in order to make money by selling pictures of you. She makes a hefty profit from it" Naruto said as he plopped a disturbed Sasuke in a chair next to the dinning room table "I need you to watch the cameras and her actions during class and find a moment to give her this packet of info. It's some personal things I managed to track down for her. She should have them" Naruto unsealed a red packet and put it on the counter before serving up the hot mouth watering food.

"you want to invite her into our group?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"you watch her and see if you see what I see … we'll decide when i come back from my mission. I will have a clone here in my place, but don't expect to see it much. It will be staying at my apartment" Naruto explained as they began eating. The ROOT agent was going to leave a few clones behind to watch Sasuke, but he wanted to test the raven and part of this test is figuring out when you're being followed.

Look underneath the underneath they always say …

This training will be similar to the training Danzo had Naruto do so Sasuke should learn a lot in a short amount of time …

Two days later Naruto put on a random unmarked mask from his Jiji's collection and left …


	5. Undercover

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

Two days later Naruto put on a random unmarked mask from his Jiji's collection and left …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura put on her pink dress for the day and sneered at her reflection in the mirror "girly girl and pathetic … good. Now where did I put my canteen?" she said as she looked around the shelves of the kitchen for the canteen she wanted. After a few minutes she found the solid blue canteen and went on with the rest of her morning routine.

Breakfast was made with the only sound being that of the sizzling of the food cooking on the stovetop. Sakura took the chance to pack a lunch as well by taking some bacon strips and making a sandwich with lettuce and tomato too. With her lunch set up she sat down to eat her simple breakfast of bacon, toast and milk. For some reason she set up the tea kettle to heat the water as she cleaned up and put the dishes in the washer.

The sight of a small shrine in the living room made her pause her search for all her school items. It was a little wooden cabinet with the doors removed that housed a sweet picture of a loving family of four and incense burning on a little plate in front of it. The little Sakura in the photo was only three years old and held in her Dad's arms with her mother and aunt on either side of him. It was the only photo she could find that had everyone …

"I miss you Mom, Dad, Aunty … I promise I'll kill the bastard for what he did to you" she sniffled as tears began prickling her eyes. The shriek of the tea kettle startled her and she wiped her eyes as she went over to turn off the heat. After adding some herbs to the canteen she poured the hot water over it "at least this tea smells nice … if it wasn't I don't know how I'd survive taking it as often as I do. Oh well, I need something to sooth my throat after each fangirl scream … how anyone does that without a medicine like this is beyond me. Must be a fangirl thing" she muttered as she tightened the lid of her canteen and put the tea filled container in the hidden pocket of her school bag next to her lunch bag. Everything else was placed in her bag and she blew out the incense before leaving for the day …

(here we go … maybe I should accidently crush Sasuke toes in the stampede. I mean really, where does he get off thinking he's the only one who's lost people and can act like an ass. Yes, it was bad. The Uchiha clan being killed off like that was heartbreaking, but he isn't honoring them and he isn't even investigating it! He believes every last thing he's spoon fed like a brain dead fool! Idiot!) Sakura scowled at the thought as she approached the school before slapping on a fake grin as Sasuke came into view. She found out very early in life that people lie and that you have to learn everything on your own. You need to see the proof with your own eyes before you make a conclusion since no one in this village can be trusted …

"hey Billboard Brow! Get away from my Sasuke!" Ino yelled as she and dozens of other fangirls charged towards their target.

(please take him) Sakura mentally growled "NO WAY INO PIG!" Sakura shrieked …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke scowled as he headed for school, but his thoughts weren't as cold as his face suggested (I hope Naruto is alright … umm … he left last night so he will be close to the desert and will be in Sand in two days or so since he said the client's home is on the way. With any luck he will be back in about a week depending on how the delivery goes)

"hey Billboard Brow! Get away from my Sasuke!"

"NO WAY INO PIG!"

The young Uchiha froze in fear as he heard the sounds of a fangirl stampede coming for him (help! … dammit, that's right I have a mission) Sasuke whimpered quietly and let the stampede swarm him (ok … if Sakura is faking here might be a good chance to see any slip ups) Sasuke thought hoping the pinkette would let her guard down in the confusing chaos.

Unfortunately that was much easier said than done with everyone grabbing, clawing and screaming for his attention. He was only 10 years old, barely going on 11, why were they acting like a bunch of insane bugs? It was disturbing … Sasuke bit back a yelp of pain as something or someone landed on his foot. However in that moment of pain he caught a glimpse of the pink haired girl … and she was smirking!

(did she … did she step on my foot on purpose?!) Sasuke twitched as he tried to crush the urge to call her out for being rude.

"GET TO CLASS ALL OF YOU!" Iruka yelled out the classroom window and the mob of rabid fans slowly dispersed allowing Sasuke to limp back to class with Ino and Sakura trying to flirt with him.

Just as they entered the room he noticed Sakura disappeared. Since Ino started whining about the seating arrangements Sasuke doubled back to see where she went. He found her just around the other corner drinking from a black canteen …

XXXXXXXXXX

"ug my throat can't take those high pitched shrieks" Sakura mumbled under her breath as she managed to break away from Sasuke and Ino without them noticing. She unzipped her bag and pulled out the canteen. The hot tea soothed her throat, but as she closed the canteen and put it away she saw a shadow move just around the corner.

(damn … did someone see? I suppose it's no big deal. A canteen filled with tea isn't weird) she thought as she quickly raced around the corner to at least see if she could identify the person who was watching her. After all it'd be wise to keep an eye on that person to avoid anything more important being seen, but no one was in the hall or even standing outside the classroom. Sakura shrugged it off and made a mental note to be more careful in the future as she entered the class that was filled with students. All the student were focused on Ino's idiot argument with Iruka that they didn't notice her take her assigned seat next to Hinata. Of course she blew a kiss at the emo prick as she passed for the fangirl effect before sitting.

"I said no Ino. Now go take your assigned seat" Iruka groaned in annoyance as Mizuki came into the class and shut the doors to show that it was time for class to start.

Sakura smirked as Ino stomped up to her seat next to Shino "seats don't matter cause Sasuke and I are meant to be together" the comment made the mind walker scowl, but she just sat down muttering something rude about bugs.

"I'M HERE!" Naruto's clone yelled as he came barreling through the door.

Mizuki sighed "you're late Naruto. Sit down"

"yeah quit bothering everyone you moron" Ino snapped sulkily not realizing she pissed off two people who weren't Hinata Hyuga the shy wallflower crushing on the hyperactive blonde boy.

Sasuke snorted uncaringly as Naruto flopped down in his seat next to Kiba (that bitch had better watch what she says or I'll crush her myself) he thought even though he knew the bitch was completely fooled by a clone's act and knew she wouldn't so annoying if she saw the real Naruto. He still hated it when people insulted his friend. The entire village was cruel to Naruto and though the Uchiha knew why he couldn't help but think it was a stupid reason to hate someone. Being a demon vessel for the nine tailed fox doesn't make you a demon, right?

Naruto is the only person who has helped him and told him the truth. It was a shock to learn of the blonde's status, but he couldn't turn his back on the only trustworthy person in this village. Besides Naruto never seemed ashamed when he revealed his fluffy secret so it helped … though Sasuke did wonder if the training as a ROOT agent helped Naruto hide any fear during that confession a month ago. It was unlikely the blonde would ever admit to that …

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sakura casting Ino a subtle glare (wonder what she's thinking)

(that bitch had better be nice to that sweet little goofball. Naruto never hurt anyone) Sakura thought before turning to her notepad to take notes on the lecture …

XXXXXXXXXX

Blood gushed from the gaping neck wound as the ninja fell to the ground to drown in his own blood. A blonde masked ninja wiped the blood from his sword and took off into the trees …

(I have an unmarked mask so they aren't after me … these ninjas are after my delivery, but why? I picked it up from my client just a couple hours ago and the person didn't seem concerned about much except for the dislike for hiring ninjas tied to big villages. She did seem sad and said her late son wanted it delivered immediately. Perhaps I did stumble on something. No matter, I just need to cut across the desert and I'll be able to get away) Naruto thought as he felt five other unidentified ninjas catching up to him. A large sand dune gave him an idea (change of plans) he thought as he shot ahead and disappeared behind the dune.

"fuck" one ninja snarled as they went behind the dune and found nothing "we need to get-" the ninja shut up as the cloaked leader of the group raised a hand demanding silence. The leader was looking at the dune itself and noticed the sand was shifting without any wind or reason that they could see. The five members exchanged the ends of long razor sharp trap wires and spread them out like a deadly web. With one sharp tug from each of them the wires sliced through the dune and anything or anyone inside.

"got him" the leader smirked. A patch of sand turned red with blood …

XXXXXXXXXX

A sharp ring from the school bell to signal the beginning of lunch so Iruka stopped lecturing "alright everyone, see you in 40 minutes! Eat up and remember we have target practice when you return"

"what did you pack for lunch Sakura?" Hinata asked softly.

"nothing. Unlike Ino Pig I care about my figure" Sakura sang out and shot the pissed off Yamanaka.

Ino huffed as she calmed down and latched onto Sasuke's arm "Sasuke has no problem with my body, right?-gah!" she shrieked when she turned and found a rather confused Naruto instead of her Sasuke "what the hell?! Where's Sasuke you moron?!"

"err … I don't know. I was up there talking with Kiba and suddenly I was here" a 'baffled' Naruto answered.

Sakura smirked "looks like Sasuke can't stand you. Why else would he swap out with someone else just to get away from you? Now I'm going to look for my Sasuke" she said before strutting out of the class with a smug smirk and leaving a furious Ino behind. Once she was alone though she slipped away and ate her lunch in the furnace room with the door closed "finally, I'm starved" she exclaimed as she pulled out her sandwich and ate.

In about 15 minutes she ate her sandwich and washed it down with some tea, but then something startled her. It sounded like chewing. This room does echo, but she stopped eating a while ago. Was someone else in the room with her?

It was a frightening question for her to contemplate. As far as she was concerned she can't allow anyone to find out the truth. Sakura quickly and quietly packed away her things and searched the room. She thought she heard something from behind the furnace and channeled her chakra into her fist to prepare to incapacitate the person fast. With a strong leap she landed on top of the furnace and stared down … at nothing?

"huh … I swore I heard something. Maybe it was the wind hitting the door" she pondered as she jumped off the furnace and landed gracefully on the floor. After a quick check to make sure she had everything she left out the door …

A second later Sasuke crawled out from under the furnace (thank god it's not winter. I would've fried under there. Please be safe Naruto. I don't want to be left alone with her. She's insane)

XXXXXXXXXX

"dig the prick out" the cloaked leader snapped and the four other ninjas sifted through the sand until they came upon the barely breathing form of a masked blonde ninja "found you"


	6. Delays

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"dig the prick out" the cloaked leader snapped and the four other ninjas sifted through the sand until they came upon the barely breathing form of a masked blonde ninja "found you"

XXXXXXXXXX

Both tan and blood soaked sand grains were pushed away, but the no matter how much they dug there was no sign of a body …

"we can't find him boss" one of the underlings snapped.

"keep looking, he has to be in there otherwise where is this blood coming from … he's most likely in pieces so he might have sunk lower" the leader sneered as he watched his men continue digging. A sick grin spread across his lips as he saw the glint of a white object. When the sand was moved aside a mask was revealed … it was the very mask the anbu was seen wearing! Their hands dove into the sand under the mask and felt something solid. The object, which was most likely the dismembered corpse of the anbu they were chasing, was dragged out …

It was only a vest …

"what the fuck? Where is the rest of him?" another ninja asked. As they looked at the vest the sand on the hill slid down taking the mask with it. The shifting sands hid the motion of something under the ninjas' feet. The motion was that of a hand rising up to toss a ball at their before diving back under the sand.

The leader noticed the plopping sound of something supposedly falling out of vest and hitting the sand and looked down. The four other ninjas did as well, but a split second ;later it was too late for them. It never even crossed their minds that they should run. If they did instead of looking down they may have lived for you see the ball exploded sending acidic liquid everywhere. Each ninja fell down either dead or screaming in agony.

As if out of a horror movie the two ninjas who were clinging to life saw the body of their leader rise up. However when the corpse quickly flopped over after that it became clear that the body wasn't what was moving at all. In reality the motion was the anbu who was coming out from his hiding spot that was actuall under their feet the entire time. Half of the young anbu's face was covered by his shirt, which was used to protect his airways from being filled with sand, but it was clear the anbu was just a kid.

"b-bl-blood" one ninja choked out as the kid took his mask and put it back on.

"red paintballs and the vest was a spare" Naruto remarked as he tapped the vest he was wearing indicating that it was definitely not the same one that is now a dissolved mess. The ROOT agent took out kunai and slashed the throats of the only living members. It would've been nice to question them and find out who hired them, but they wouldn't last long enough to reveal anything anyway so best to just finish a quick wind jutsu all the bodies were buried under the sand and Naruto was free to finish his mission. Two days with the only delay being a nasty sand storm the trained ROOT agent came up to the gates of the village hidden in the Sand.

"what's your business here?" the guard at the gate asked.

"mission" Naruto answered while rolling his eyes behind his mask. It's not like he can just slip in because if one thing went wrong and he was spotted then he will be suspected of espionage, which is punishable by death … dying is something he'd like to avoid for a while yet, but that doesn't make these questions any less stupid. If he wanted to get information or plan an attack could've just changed out his clothes and posed as a injured civilian to get a free pass to the hospital where he could plant a bomb. It's stupid to look suspiciously at someone who openly admits to being a ninja and not look closer at the people claiming to be weak or non threatening even if you rely on merchants and tourism as much as the ninja activities to keep a village afloat.

"and the village you're allied with?" the guard asked as he glared at the foreigner.

"none, freelance" the ROOT agent answered.

The guard raised an eyebrow wondering why anyone would want to work in this career alone, but in the end he really didn't care and let the ROOT agent through the gates. Naruto immediately started looking for the address he was supposed to go to. It didn't take as long as he thought. The house was only a few blocks from the gate so he wasted no time knocking on the door …

A young woman with knee length mouse brown hair and green eyes wearing a blue sundress answered the door "hello"

"are you Yuki Nata? A friend of Kyo Ishi?" Naruto asked remembering what his client said so he could identify that he has the right person that the package is meant to be given to.

The woman's eyes lit up "yes! Is Kyo coming to my wedding? I know he doesn't approve of Gato, but I want Kyo to understand that I'm happy … Oh! Are you escorting him?"

(oh crap) Naruto thought as he realized that he was the bearer of some bad news "I was sent by his mother. Her son had a package he desperately wanted to get to you, but … he was killed"

"he … he was k-killed?" Yuki mumbled …

The ninja saw her eyes roll back and caught her before she fell to the floor … it seems she fainted …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke woke up and found a note on the bed side table. He quickly picked it up hoping it was a message from Naruto's clone saying Naruto was coming back, but it wasn't … well partly, the note was from the blonde's clone, but it wasn't the news he wanted …

' _hey – there was a delay in the mission and this may take much longer than the boss thought so don't worry about him if the boss does not return for a week more or so._

 _P.S. the civilians were planning another fox hunt so I moved that little fox family into our hideaway with a few bunnies to hunt – burn this_ '

"I guess I can survive a while longer … I just need to be more careful around Sakura" Sasuke sighed as he did a tiny fire jutsu to burn the note before getting ready for the day. He made a quick breakfast consisting of a couple fried eggs on toast and ate. As he munched he wondered if he was sensing right and he looked out the window "I feel four … maybe … did Naruto leave more clones than just the one for school?" Sasuke mused out loud and was gifted with the sudden appearance of a clone of the blonde ROOT agent standing on the branch.

The clone shook his head as Sasuke opened his mouth to say something "nope. The boss wants this to be your first mission"

"but Sakura could kill me! Can't I start with something safer like the D-ranked missions Itachi told me about" Sasuke pleaded hoping for some chance to avoid getting caught by the pinkette and brutally murdered.

"D-ranked missions are to help build teamwork. You need a team to do teamwork Sasuke" the clone chuckled in amusement as the young Uchiha pouted "don't worry we won't let anything happen to you" the clone said just before disappearing from view.

"fine" Sasuke sighed and finished his breakfast. With everything cleaned, his bag packed and his lunch prepared for later Sasuke only had one last thing to do before he could leave. He grabbed the red packet Naruto gave him and raced for the door after tucking the packet into his backpack. If he was careful he can dump he packet and not have to worry about getting caught until Naruto gets back. As he entered the school he shivered in fear and sure enough a mob of fans surrounded him. This time he was lucky because Iruka called for everyone to class, which apparently was starting outside today …

Iruka smiled a slightly strained smile as Ino and Sakura began glare at each other while clinging to Sasuke "good to see you all made it- … Naruto we're out here!" he called out making his assistant, Mizuki, roll his eyes as orange clad goofball jumped out the first story window where the usual classroom was and ran over to join them "ok, now that everyone is here we're going to start by working on some target practice. Since we will go back in the classroom later you can go put your backpacks down next to your _assigned_ seats" he said firmly making sure the fangirls got the point, which it looked like they did.

(this would be the perfect chance to give Sakura the packet) Sasuke thought and was about to grab the packet in his bag when someone came up behind him.

"hey Sasuke, lets go together" came the voice of the very pink haired girl he feared.

Sasuke snorted as he subtly shut his backpack to hide the packet from view (PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!) he mentally pleaded as he walked away with the pinkette who latched onto his arm and was soon followed by Ino who snagged his other arm (I'm not sure which scares me more. The fangirl or the fake fangirl)

Soon everyone was lined up outside and waiting to start the target practice. One after another each person was called up and was given a circular target to throw a set of kunais at from twenty feet away. Sasuke had to keep from laughing when Naruto deliberately missed the target twice, but the two kunai nearly impaled Mizuki who wasn't paying attention. It looked so much like an accident that Iruka defended Naruto when Mizuki yelled at him. if they knew the blonde like Sasuke does then they would know that it was completely deliberate.

"you all did very well … Sakura you might want to practice more along with those who also had trouble with your grip. Lets get back to the classroom and finish class there" iruka announced and everyone left.

As Sasuke passed the row of targets he spotted Sakura's (she didn't miss any of them) he thought as he mentally took the kunai from the regular target sign and placed them where they would be had it been a human training dummy instead … she hit all the main vital points …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto pulled the tea kettle off the stove and started to pour a cup. All his ninja gear was still in place including his mask since his job was not done and he was in Yuki's home. A soft groan could be heard from the other room and realized that the lady of the house was waking up. He picked up the fresh tea and went into the living where Yuki was laying across the couch "I brought you some tea miss. Careful, it's hot" he cautioned as he set the cup on the low coffee table in front of her.

"thank you" she said sadly as she slowly sat up. A few moments passed in silence as Yuki recovered "what happened?"

"all I know is that he was killed, but nothing else. His mother found this with a note. Kyo meant for it to go to you so she hired me to bring it" Naruto said and handed her the infamous package in question, which turned out to be a file marked with Yuki's full name.

With great care she took the file and took a deep breath before opening it. Only two pages in she broke down crying, but she kept reading and soon her sadness turned to anger "does this mean what I think it does?" she asked with a dangerously calm voice.

"I never saw the contents. My job is to deliver not pry" Naruto said, but the woman handed him the file clearly asking for his opinion. The ROOT agent took the file and skimmed through the papers and it was easy to see why she was so angry "it proves that you have a massive inheritance and the man you intended to marry, Gato, knew about it. Gato used his own wealth to murder your father and kept tabs on your mother who went into hiding with you when you were a baby. When you came of age he arranged for your mother to have an accident and used your grief to his advantage and since your mother never told you of your fortune you never suspected anything" Naruto summed up. It was all there in black and white. Kyo even broke it down to the day certain things happened. How he got this information is a wonder, but it explained a lot "I was attacked on my way here by a team of ninjas"

Yuki glanced up at him with a sad look on her face, but it seems his comment confirmed everything for her "ninja-san … can I hire you for something?"

"I can spare some time before returning to my own village. Would I be correct in assuming you wanted some last minute changes done for your wedding?" Naruto guessed.

An immensely relieved smile spread across her face and she nodded shakily "after the wedding in the morning please … kill my husband"


	7. Underneath

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

An immensely relieved smile spread across her face and she nodded shakily "after the wedding in the morning please … kill my husband"

XXXXXXXXXX

Orochimaru twitched as he heard Itachi sigh "would you go do something productive instead of sighing? It's annoying" he said as he tried to focus on the various lab results on the desk in front of him. He was close to finding ways to reverse the damage that was inflicted on some of the children due to the experiments that were forced on them. If reversing the damage is not completely possible he wanted to improve their conditions as much as he could. It was, however, hard to focus with a bored Uchiha mucking around.

"you're the one who said I shouldn't trying to contact the Akatsuki" Itachi sniped showing that he was just not the kind of person who can sit around and do nothing.

The snake sage sighed getting the feeling he was dealing with a temperamental teenager "you know what a stupid idea that is. It's the same problem I would have if I tried that stunt. Madara and Obito are the leaders of the Akatsuki and Obito, Madara and Sarutobi are all linked. They know which side we're really on because they framed us! They aren't going to risk bringing a in person who was framed and if they do let you in it will be to kill you. It too unpredictable so try something else … help Naruto with his missions" Orochmaru suggested trying to get the Uchiha out of his hair.

Itachi raised an eyebrow "you know where he is?"

"of course. He sent a letter saying he is headed to Sand so you should be able to meet up with him" Orochimaru had just lookef again only to find that the Uchiha was gone "good, maybe that'll keep him busy for awhile. Really, he's as restless and impatient as his father was" he muttered only to sigh himself as he heard Tayuya yelling swear words at Tenzo from down the hall "IF I HEAR ONE MORE CURSE WORD I'M TAKING DESSERT FOR A WEEK!" he nodded in approval when he was met with silence "I'm starting to wonder why I ever wanted kids" he muttered before delving back into the lab results …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto frowned behind his mask. It was the night before the wedding and he realized a problem he had to fix. His new client wanted him close in case something happened, but if his plan was going to work he had to be checked in through the gates again. The full plan was …

First, to leave Sand as scheduled.

Second, henge himself and five clones so he looked like the team of ninjas who attacked him before.

Third, head to the hotel where the wedding will take place and give Gato the file claiming it was never seen by Yuki.

Fourth and final step was to get rid of the clones and henge into a bridesmaid to stick near Yuki.

The problem? When he came in the village he was not wearing a henge, but his clones will be and therefore hey could be detected ...

In order to convince the gate guards that he isn't a henge with clones he should be there personally and make it look like he's injured. A little blood trickling down his arm can go a long way since henges and clones don't bleed. He had no more paintballs so it had to be fresh blood. If it was dried blood it could still be considered a clone because anyone can wipe blood on a clone or henge. So here he was walking around the village of Sand near Yuki's house trying to think of something.

A part of him wondered if he could get away with all henged clones since he was allowed in the village without much trouble, but it wasn't worth the risk and he can't leave if his client explicitly asks him to stay. It actually would be wise to stay close to Yuki since he had no clue how Gato intended to do. He considered forgetting the first three steps of his plan and just going as a bridesmaid from the beginning, but if Gato doesn't know for a fact that Yuki is in the dark he may try something drastic right after the 'I do's or even before, which is also not worth the risk.

As he stopped on the roof of a building right across from Yuki's home he heard something … it was the wind speeding up as a sand storm approached. With a quick motion he unsealed a cloak and continued his watch on the house. The sand swirling around in the air had little effect on him thanks to the mask a cloak, but in the distance he heard fighting. Suddenly a man went flying down the street right in front of Naruto. For a split second the ROOT agent considered helping the man, but then he saw the man's opponent … a ten year old red haired kid. It became clear that the kid was strong at manipulating sand, but even then Naruto didn't intervene though if the man kept his mouth shut then Naruto might have helped him …

"you fucking demon brat! Why won't you just die?" the man yelled as he tried to throw weapon after weapon at the kid who must've been using the sand to flick the sharp objects. That statement brought back a lot of painful memories for Naruto and he decided to let the narrow minded fool get his ass kicked even though the man spotted him though the storm of sand "hey! Help me! The demon is trying to kill me!"

Naruto scoffed, he heard accusation like that before in his own village "did he? He isn't attacking now?" he said and turned to face the red haired kid who looked about his age "hey red, did you try to kill him?"

Teal eyes surrounded by black circles widened ever so slightly in surprise as if no one asked for his side of the story. Little did the kid know this masked ninja knew exactly how he felt "yes"

"did he try to kill you first?" Naruto called over the wind though he suspected he knew the answer already. In fact he believes he knows who the kid is … he's Gaara, the youngest son of the Kazekage and the demon vessel for Shukaku. If he was right he knew what was going on here. After all how can someone get away with throwing weapons at the kazekage's son unless they were allowed too …

"yes" Gaara said yet again stunned that this person cared enough to ask.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT? HE'S THE DEMON- …" the man froze as he stared at the masked ninja.

Naruto chuckled as he realized what suddenly made the ninja so nervous. It just so happens the sand storm was dying down making it easier to see as the lights from the stars and surrounding buildings became brighter "oh my, did you think I was a fellow Sand ninja? So sorry to disappoint you, but no I'm not and unfortunately for you I have some nasty memories of exactly what that kid goes through. I won't help you, only him" he said simply earning a hopeful look from the boy he suspected was named Gaara.

"YOU IDIOT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW DANGEROUS THAT FREAK IS-" the man was suddenly trapped in a cocoon of sand.

The ROOT agent casually jumped off the roof as the man screamed in terror as the sand slowly tightened around him "calm down, I meant what I said" Naruto said as Gaara shot him a wary look. The blonde almost sounded a touch amused, which seemed strange considering the muffled screams of pain coming from the cocoon "I meant every word, which is why I know you don't want to kill … they calm you monster, demon, freak and give you those glares filled with disgust. No matter how you act they only see that thing that makes you different from them so you decide to act like a monster" Gaara gave Naruto his full attention and relaxed a little making the sand at least stop crushing the man "I said I had nasty memories too … many people tried to hurt me in so many ways all for something that wasn't even my fault … there were many in my life that were just like him" he jabbed his thumb in the direction of the cocoon.

"but you don't kill them?" the red head asked curiously.

"my jiji told me the names of other people like me so would I be right in saying your name is Gaara and that you are the host for the one tails? … I'm Naruto and I have the nine tails" Naruto whispered to the red head so the trapped man wouldn't hear. Again Gaara's eyes widened and nodded clearly amazed to hear that there were others like him "to answer your question no. No matter how they try to hurt me I don't kill them unless I have no choice or if it's to protect someone I care about. I just shrug off the insults now … maybe if I didn't find someone who cared for me like the man I call jiji or have a few friends who didn't care about the demon in me then I would have, but now I fight for those I care about. I refuse to lose those few still left in my life"

Gaara frowned sadly subconsciously releasing the bruised and broken man from the sandy prison "I don't have anyone"

"you do now. I'll be your friend" Naruto said and as if to prove his sincerity he removed his mask letting Gaara see his face. Gaara gave a soft smile, but it quickly to a look of horror as the man stumbled to his feet and ran at him with a kunai "killing to protect someone …" Naruto said as he spun around faster than Gaara's sand could react and swiftly snapped the man's neck "risking your life for a friend … that makes you more human than anyone like this fool" he said and dropped the man in the sand.

The red haired demon vessel looked at the dead man in the sand. Sure his sand could've stopped the man, but he was more than a little shocked that this person helped him "thank you"

"it was no trouble" Naruto said as he fixed the mask back to his face. Just as he was about to destroy the body he noticed the cloak "this cloak …" he uttered and let his sentence trail off as he knelt down to look closely at the familiar fabric that he saw before and recently too. When he finally recalled where he cursed himself. The leader of the team of six ninjas who tried to kill him for his delivery was wearing a cloak just like this.

"those cloaks are for chunin patrol ninjas" Gaara said wondering why his new friend was concerned now when he clearly already knew the man was a ninja from this village. What he didn't know was that Naruto was realizing this was getting dangerous. Those ninjas from the desert were Sand ninjas! Gato is in league with Sand in someway, but how?

Naruto sighed as he realized his plan to henge into the team of ninjas got very tricky since people knew them in this village "I have a mission that just got a bit harder, but … this might work" he muttered and removed the cloak from the dead man. After freeing the garment he created six clones in the image of the six ninjas who attacked him, but the leader was without his cloak. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gaara stiffen in a way that revealed these ninja have tried to hurt him before too or at least never helped him "these ninjas attacked me on the way here … they aren't around anymore" he said and Gaara visibly relaxed. This was a good sign that Gaara wouldn't go around telling people about his mission. If he thought otherwise Naruto would've not done this part in front of the red head.

The clone of the leader took the dead man's cloak and tried it on. It wasn't quiet the right size so the clone took it off and fiddled with the fabric a little to let it out a little. With that little tweak the cloak fit better. As the clone completed that task Naruto thought back to recall if he saw a spot on the leader that was exposed. He had to recall carefully because if he choose to rip the cloak in a spot where the man was known to have a scar it would be a dead give away.

"he has a scar on his elbow" Gaara said softly. This was the only person who was nice to him and understood him so he wanted to help. He didn't care much for how treasonous this may be since his own father has sent assassins to kill him before. That doesn't really promote loyalty "I can get them passed the gate without anyone knowing too"

This offer momentarily stunned the ROOT agent, but that didn't last long. Naruto made the changes as instructed feeling that Gaara really was trying to help. Once he placed the scars and others features Gaara brought up on the clones he rigged a little mechanism in the sleeve of the cloak to let a trickle of blood out at the right time. Then he and the clones went to the edge of town not far away with the red head. The blonde, who was dragging the dead man with him, stood back and watched Gaara manipulate the sand to form a tunnel under the cliff wall and the village entrance.

"thank you for this" Naruto said as he saw his clones disappear into the tunnel. After a second he tossed the dead man in the tunnel so Gaara wouldn't be blamed for the death, which he planned to pin on a giant scorpion …

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi knew he was close to his destination, but he couldn't see the village of Sand through the sand storm so he decided to wait a moment for the sand storm to die down. Once the worst of the storm passed and the light from the stars revealed the village gate in the distance he decided to not waste a moment even if it was very late … or really early in the morning at this point since the sun was just peeking up over the edge of the horizon. Just as he was headed of the gate a gaping hole in the sand opened up and six men came out …

"Itachi? What are you doing here? Were you bothering Orochimaru so much that you got yourself kicked out?" one of the ninjas asked.

"Naruto?" Itachi relaxed and looked the ninjas over. He never would've guessed that they were all clones until Naruto spoke "what's going on? I came here to help if I can … I wasn't kicked out" the Uchiha denied.

The clone with the cloak scoffed knowing Itachi better than that "right now the boss is guarding his client and we're disposing of a body" the one clone said as the other clones pulled out the dead man from the tunnel, which collapsed right after, and went to find the nearest scorpion to piss off "long story short. The boss delivered his package and the contents prompted the young woman, Yuki, to hire him to kill Gato for his cruel misdeeds against her and those she cares about. Gato will believe she never saw the information because we will deliver it to him like this and he will marry Yuki as planned, but he will die before the honeymoon. If you want to help you can replace one of those clones" the cloaked clone said as he pulled the file Naruto originally delivered out of the cloak.

Moments later the clone returned without the dead man and Itachi swapped out with one of them. The check at the gate went smoothly with the cloak and blood trickle though the clone made sure not to let the blood hit the ground so no one could take it and test it. Can't be too careful with that kind of thing. With that out of the way the clones and Itachi went to the hotel where the wedding will take place and waited for Gato. The shipping mega saw them as he came down to see the preparations hours later and smirked smugly before inviting them to his lavish hotel room.

"we were starting to think you failed" Gato said as he let them in and took the file … there waiting in the living room of Gato's suite was the Kazekage and Madara Uchiha …


	8. Wedding Plans

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"we were starting to think you failed" Gato said as he let them in and took the file … there waiting in the living room of Gato's suite was the Kazekage and Madara Uchiha …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's clone with the cloak forced itself to calm down and nodded "there was a bit of trouble with some brat who was hired to deliver this, but we dealt him and the mother just in case she read any of it" he reported as he watched the businessman read over the file to make sure everything was there. It was so infuriating to see the people who brutally murdered his jiji and his friends right in front of him, but not able to do anything to wipe that smug smirk off their faces. Itachi wasn't handling this predicament much better, but they both knew they couldn't fight them here. Neither were strong enough to face them plus there was Hiruzen, Inoichi and Obito to worry about. Keep calm, that's all they had to do for now. Keep calm, get out of here alive and perhaps with some information too. That's the best case scenario …

"son of a bitch did some excellent work. It's a pity he got emotional over some cunt. I would've hired him" Gato cackled as he dropped the file into the fire "oh well, now back to business. Once I'm married and our vast fortunes are combined I will help finance-" Gato paused as the kazekage raised his hand for silence.

The leader of Sand's eyes and Madara's eyes zeroed in on Naruto's clone with the cloak suspiciously. A tense silence continued for a few seconds and each second made Naruto's clone more nervous. Itachi was ready to do what he could should their disguises be uncovered. Suddenly several barbs of sand forced each of the clones and Itachi to dodge or have themselves and the henges dispelled. Thankfully the barbs shredded the cloak the lead clone took from the man who attacked Gaara and that seemed to be enough to stop the assault. Itachi and the clones panted hoping the subtle trick was enough to convince Madara and the kazekage that they were real. Considering nothing else happened it seems it worked …

Without a second glance or even an apology the kazekage turned his attention back to the businessman "yes, we will provide support in your projects in exchange for financial backing in our own mission"

"you intend to get everyone under your thumb more or less, correct?" Gato questioned for clarity.

Madara nodded with a smirk pulling at his lips "more or less. How would you like to increase your wealth by 10 or 20 times? As we gain control you will be reaping the benefitd as an ally. You will have free rein in our lands be it women, land or whatever it is you desire"

Drool leaked from the greedy businessman's lips as he thought of the possibilities "very well, I'm in. Who will handle removing my wife to be from any involvement?"

"Haru and his team will handle it" the kazekage said as he pointed to the ninjas he nearly skewered moments ago. The clones and Itachi nodded in understanding at the order to keep up appearances.

Gato smirked "if it's all the same to you wait a week. I'd like to enjoy my honeymoon" the disguised clones and Uchiha clenched their teeth slightly to resist the urge to kill this sicko "now if you'll excuse me I have a wedding to prepare for" the greedy businessman was left alone in his room. However as they left Naruto's clone in the back saw Gato pop a pill in a glass of wine and swish it around. They couldn't stay long enough to see much more than that, but it's safe to assume that Gato drank the contents.

Instead of getting a chance to escape Madara gestured for the clones and Itachi to follow him and the kazekage "we don't necessarily need him" the traitorous Uchiha subtly suggested a different solution.

"I agree. A greedy fool like that will cause problems" the kazekage fell silent as the bakers passed by them wheeling a tray with a large six layered cake covered in tropical flowers "in reality we don't need either of them. Haru, kill both of them after you and your team find out how to break into his bank accounts. If we gain control of his businesses we can finance ourselves"

"yes kazekage-sama" 'Haru' muttered and they left the second they were dismissed. The clones dispelled themselves once they found a secluded spot except for the one with the shredded cloak "the boss is at this address" he said as he handed over what was left of the cloak and vanished in a puff of smoke. Itachi destroyed the cloak and quickly raced to the address under his henge …

XXXXXXXXXX

"so you're not allowed in certain areas of the village. That is something I understand. The only time I'm 'allowed' in places like a bathhouse is during other parties and even then I have to sneak out or some drunk will find me" Naruto said from behind his mask. The red haired demon vessel had no place to go.

Coincidently Gaara was banned to the edge of the village because a wedding was taking place. Gaara being the kazekage's son he knew it was important. Important enough to ban the person you think might cause problems even if it was your own child. With nowhere to go Naruto and Gaara stayed together chatting all night on the roof of Yuki's home

"yeah … I should go back to the edge of the village before someone comes to check on me" Gaara said as he lowered himself down to the road just in time to see a little bit of sun peeking over the tall rock walls surrounding the village.

"did you have a guard? Was anyone watching you?" Naruto asked, but Gaara simply shook his head sadly. The ROOT agent didn't like leaving the red head alone so he jumped down next to Gaara and took the red head's hand "this will help us keep in contact with each other. Any bird I send to get you a letter has a matching seal so it will be able to find you, but be out of the way when it comes so no one finds out you're in contact with someone outside of the village. That may get you in trouble" he said as he applied the seal to Gaara's forearm.

If Sasuke wasn't consistently attacked by his fans then he would've given it to him as well, but there are too many potential witnesses for that solution thus the reason the clones are with him. Orochimaru has it, but Itachi does not. The oldest Uchiha brother would have it too provided he could stay still long enough. The poor bird would be flying in circles after him and that would delay everything so by the time the bird reaches him the information would be too old to be accurate.

Gaara looked at the small light gray marking on his forearm where it would easily be hidden by his sleeve and felt tears prickle his eyes as he realized he made a friend "thank you" he mumbled before running off almost too excited to look back at the blonde ninja.

"I better get inside" Naruto said before slipping into the house. Yuki was still sleeping and considering day this will be it was best to let her rest until the attendants come to help her into the dress. Of course there was a phone call. The blonde grabbed it before it could wake his client and henged his vocal cords so he sounded like Yuki "hello, this is Yuki" Naruto rolled his eyes behind his mask as this person started telling who they assumed wax the bride that there was a mix up with the flowers (fuck you Gato, he should've at least splurged for a wedding planner so Yuki doesn't need to deal with this. Is that too much to ask especially when he intends to kills her) he thought before answering "what flowers arrived?"

The ninja listened to a panicky florist and sighed. He figured Yuki wouldn't mind him taking this over since this wedding would amount to nothing romance wise. How can it when there's are plans to kill the both the newlyweds? Of course she won't care if the flowers were right when her husband is a lying bastard who murdered her parents and will kill her to get the fortune she unknowingly inherited. With that in mind he told the florist how to salvage the situation, but that wasn't the last problem. Moments after there was a call from the photographer who had to cancel. A cake disaster came next and Naruto had to remove to layers of the originally 8 layered cake to make it 6 and had them cover any flaws with sugar flowers. After that there was a call saying the dress was sent to the hotel instead of at Yuki's home, which makes everything difficult because the limo was supposed to pick her up at her home. Just as he was dealing with the bridesmaid who claimed to be so sick that she couldn't come, though Naruto could hear lots of other people and music in the background, Itachi came in through the window and dropped the henge.

"how can I help?" Itachi asked once Naruto hung up.

"I'm going to wake Yuki. Lucky for us we have two openings so we can get in the wedding easily and I think I know a way to kill him without any suspicion being placed on Yuki" Naruto said as he went to get his client.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke peeked out around a tree and looked the pinkette who was training intently by breaking boulders. School let out just moments ago and he decided it was time to slip her the red envelope. After all this time he had gotten used to her routine so he knew where to find her, but he still had no clue how to get close without dying.

(I have to move fast or I will be pulverized like those boulders) he gulped as he witnessed the murder of one defenseless boulder that was turned to dust courtesy of Sakura's fist. He waited for her to pick another boulder and toss it up in the air before racing forward. The sound of the bag being opened and the envelope being shoved inside was covered by the explosion of the boulder, but Sasuke had no time to shut the bag thanks to a snagged zipper so he ran away fast. Mere seconds after he retreated he heard …

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE SO COME OUT!" Sasuke held his breath and took cover. No doubt Sakura saw her bag open and knew there was someone near by. And explosion shook the earth as Sakura slammed her fists in random places to drive out the spy, but all it really did was send a small rock flying at Sasuke's head leaving a bump. Sasuke managed to stay quiet until she decided she scared off her stalker and left.

"she's gone Sasuke, are you ok?" the cone asked as he jumped down from the tree.

"I'm fine, is Naruto having an easier time on his mission?" Sasuke asked as the clone treated the bump on his head.

"that would depend on how you rate molestation" the clone commented all to casually for such a statement and it left Sasuke gaping in a mix of shock, horror and disgust.

XXXXXXXXXX

A lovely brunette with gray eyes wearing a blue dress with a colorful sash around her waist smiled as she approached the photographer who was taking pictures of the couple cutting the cake "why the fuck did I have to be the bridesmaid? I got a couple pills from the bottle in his breast pocket, but that prick Gato groped me" the henged Uchiha hissed under his breath while maintaining his sweet smile.

"you will deal with the role because I had to deal with the shit storm of excuses and issues this morning without sleep. Now stop whining and you weren't the only one groped by the way Itachi" the supposedly tall slender young photographer with short black hair and slim glasses hissed back as he stood up to get a better angle "he swings both ways apparently and now I understand why the previous photographer quit"

"not that I have an issue with that, but he's getting married. Yuki doesn't need any scumbag like that getting too her … so I was thinking since Madara may try to go after her for her wealth I should go as a guard" Itachi muttered deliberately avoiding 'Naruto's henged black eyes "you fixed any problems nicely. This place looks great. If you ever get tired of being a ninja you could try being a wedding planner"

"that will never happen. Now back to the subject that came before that awkward subject change. Yes you're right. Yuki may need a bodyguard at least until they give up on wasting resources trying to find her, but why are you volunteering so quickly when Orochimaru could- … wait I know that look" the ROOT agent blinked as he looked at the slightly blushing bridesmaid avoiding his eyes "you like her"

Itachi twitched, he swore he was cursed with two annoying little brothers who tease him not one "would that matter?"

Naruto shrugged a started taking more pictures as the music and dancing started "no … you two would be cute together"

"you think?" Itachi asked relieved that he wouldn't get teased.

"yeah, I can see it now. One day you'll both be dating, get married and maybe even have kids" Naruto said as he stepped towards the table to get an excellent shot of the dance floor and hide the fact that Itachi slipped to of Gato's heart pills and a certain blue pill into the drink "I can also see one of those kids looking up at Yuki and saying 'mommy, how did you and daddy meet?' and Yuki will smile and say ' well sweetie, your daddy was my bridesmaid'" Naruto bit his lip to keep from laughing and focused on the pictures, which wasn't easy with the eyes of the 'bridesmaid' burning holes into his back.

"jerk" Itachi grumbled, but his mood lifted considerably when Gato took his glass into the limo with his wife and downed it before being driven away. Instead of a honeymoon Gato died right there in the car seat. Itachi stayed to help Yuki and Naruto quickly left the village …


	9. Pink Ally

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"jerk" Itachi grumbled, but his mood lifted considerably when Gato took his glass into the limo with his wife and downed it before being driven away. Instead of a honeymoon Gato died right there in he car seat. Itachi stayed to help Yuki and Naruto quickly left the village …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke snuck into the waterfall training area and held out a bowl of treats "here Misty, here little ones! I found some treats you might like-Naruto! You're back"

A shirtless Naruto was tackled by Sasuke accidently dropping the bowl of treats "not so hard Sasuke. I have a couple bruised ribs" the blonde said with amusement despite the pain.

"bruised ribs?" Sasuke took a step back and saw the bandages around Naruto's ribs and chest "what happened? Your clones said you were fine before they were dispelled last night-oh, you got caught in the storm, didn't you?"

"yeah nothing all that interesting happened, but I was trapped a mile outside helping the people in the outpost village and helped secure things for the village. A horse panicked and kicked me" Naruto said absentmindedly.

The Uchiha tilted his head curiously at the blonde who seemed to be deep in thought "did something happen?"

"I'm not sure" Naruto said fore explaining what transpired just 12 hours ago …

 **Flashback**

The masked ROOT agent looked up at the dark ominous storm fast approaching. He had to find shelter soon to wait it out. The winds were already very difficult to fight through and it was getting too dark to see. In the distance he saw an outpost town he new quite well. Though it marked that he was a mere 5 minutes away from his destination he heard distant screams.

"LOOK OUT FATHER!"

The scream sent Naruto running towards the outpost town's courtyard where an elderly man was holding on to the outside of the second story window where he was trying to fasten the shutters shut. It looked like the ladder under him was thrown out from under him leaving him dangling for dear life. The young man, who was probably the man's son, was scrambling to get the ladder up and under his father's feet, but that meant releasing his hold on the reins of the horse he was taking to the stable.

One loud rumbled of thunder sent the horse into a panic and it bucked. Naruto dove between the young man and the horse's foot. He winced as the kick hit his chest, but he forced himself to focus and grab the reins to get the horse in control. The young man seemed unconcerned about Naruto's well being and simply focused on getting his father down safely. Naruto was very understanding about that. It was family after all. The ninja just took the horse into the stable before another rumble of thunder spooked it. When Naruto returned he saw the young man glaring at him.

"what the hell took you guys? You were supposed to be here when we sent he weather warning an hour ago! My father could've died! Where's the rest of your team? They need to get a move on or this storm will destroy everything!" the young man snapped angrily.

"errr … I'm sorry?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Who was this guy expecting?

The elderly man lit a lantern to see in the darkness and frowned "John look at his mask. He's not a Leaf ninja"

"huh?" the young man named John took a better look at the ninja he yelled at and his eyes widened "I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else"

"it's alright" Naruto replied loud enough to be heard over the winds "I'll help out"

 **Flashback Over**

"the storm didn't end until an hour ago, but I stayed to help clean up the mess. I just got home … they like your treats" Naruto commented as the little foxes appeared from under a sofa and started eating the meaty treats off the floor.

"yeah" Sasuke responded halfheartedly as he thought about the story Naruto "the outpost towns are important. Why didn't anyone come?"

Naruto grabbed his orange jacket from the closet to go with the orange pants he was wearing "I can't be sure … Itachi will need to contact me about Yuki's safety. If they're being followed then that may have had a part to play. If not … I'll have to find out. Figures I ran into Madara, but a horse does more damage"

"you found that bastard! You clones didn't tell me this! They only said something about a perverted business man and Itachi being bridesmaid … you got pictures right-wait first tell me if anything happened" Sasuke would've continued ranting if Naruto didn't hug him.

"I know what it means to hear of he guy. After all Itachi and I see the prick. I will describe in detail what happened at dinner. Come on, we have school" the blonde said letting the now calmer raven go.

Sasuke frowned "I'm holding you to that … you should send a clone and just rest today. You did only just get back"

The blonde smirked "why do you think I play the deadlast? To sleep in class of course!"

"so that's why" Sasuke said between laughs.

"so what do you think of Sakura. I know what I'd decide, but I'm not the only one involved in this" Naruto said with a smile as his friend smiled gratefully at being treated as a teammate.

"she's strong and has a hell of a temper" Sasuke shivered as he recalled the memory and subconsciously rubbed to spot on his head where a lump was "but she would be a strong ally"

"good, I'll invite her to have dinner with us tonight" the blonde exclaimed cheerily as they walked across the ledge behind the waterfall.

All the color left Sasuke's face and he nearly slipped off the ledge "TONIGHT?"

"sure, why wait? She knows now she's being watched by an ally who wants to help her reach a goal we all want, removing Sarutobi from power. It's better to introduce ourselves properly sooner rather than later" Naruto explained as he stepped onto the grass.

"yeah … yeah I guess that makes sense, but I'm wearing armor!"Sasuke pouted as the blonde laughed "I'm not kidding! She's seriously scary! … wait she knows? Did that have something to do with the envelope you gave her? What was in it?"

Naruto gave a sad smile "most of it was precious memories she thought she lost when her family was taken from her … the rest was a letter explaining she wasn't alone. Of course she knew se was followed because the letter was obviously slipped in her bag at a time and place no one should know about" Naruto chuckled and patted Sasuke's back. Clearly the Uchiha realized his mistake and that he should've chosen a different place and time to give the temperamental pinkette the envelope. A time and place where anyone could've slipped it to her "it's ok Sasuke. We'll work on that stealth, but think of it this way, you did sort of break the ice already so the introduction should go smoother"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura's pale green eyes fluttered open this morning and she smiled at her bed's small side table. With great excitement she hopped out of the rickety bed to open the side table's small drawer. In the drawer was stack of photos, a locket and a switchblade that had a name engraved on it. The name was her father's who got the blade from his father. The locket was her mother's and it even had the same picture! The photos were ones that came in an album, but the album was gone.

Whoever got these things searched high and low to get them. The letter made it sound like it was no big deal, but she knew it wasn't easy. Apparently the items ended up in the back of an antique shop in an outpost village. The store clerk had sold the album, but the clerk's daughter kept the pictures in case someone came by looking for those things seeing as the photos looked real instead of staged like her Dad insisted they were. Sure enough the person who wrote the letter found them and the other things that came to the shop at the same time. Of course she knew this letter would bring a lot of trouble for both her and this person if the wrong person found it so she burned it. What she didn't know is that Naruto's clones saw her as they went back to watch Sasuke. If she didn't destroy the damning letter they would've.

"thank you" she whispered gratefully as a few tears fell from her eyes. The drawer was closed gently and she went about getting ready for school. With the usual fangirl mob attacking Sasuke of the way and pretending to fight Ino she sat down and pulled out the books that were listed on the chalkboard.

"I'm here!" Naruto yelled as he scrambled into the classroom little less late than usual.

Iruka sighed "sit down Naruto" he said missing the glare his assistant, Mizuki, gave the blonde. Sakura however did not miss it. She always wondered why people glared at the blonde. It seemed so mean and completely unwarranted. The thought just nagged at her since school started and she considered trying to visit Naruto to discover what's going on. As Naruto raced passed her desk to get to his seat, which was now with Shino because Ino kept complaining. Sakura opened her next textbook and her eyes widened as she saw a slip of paper. Written in the same handwriting as the letter was a dinner invite at the Backhills. She hid the note in her bag and eagerly awaited the end of class …

Once she lft the school she took the note to burn it so no one found it, but much to her shock the message was erased and in it's place was a map! As odd as it was she didn't care and followed the map to the border of the Backhills and through th forest. There were no clear paths, but there were obvious markers that lined up with the map. Like a fallen tree, a river bend and finally a waterfall at the end …

XXXXXXXXXX

"where were you Naruto? It's almost time for Sakura to get here and nothings started yet. I can't have her pissed! I already cleaned up after the foxes and put the ice cream away for dessert so come on!" Sasuke yelped as he dragged Naruto into the kitchen in the waterfall complex only seconds after Naruto entered.

"every month I go to Ichiraku to eat 30-40 bowls of drugged ramen" Naruto answered as he handed Sasuke a scroll and went to the stairs to change out of his orange outfit before starting dinner "I'm going to change, dinner will only take a few minutes since I planned a barbecue. Could you heat up the small grill and unseal the food in that scroll?" Naruto asked as he disappeared.

"sure, but hurry up" Sasuke called back and managed to do all that before his brain fully registered what his ROOT agent "THIRTY BOWLS OF DRUGGED RAMEN?!" he yelled at the blonde who just returned wearing jeans and a red t-shirt.

Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the meat with herbs "calm down. It's not how it sounds. To keep the demon, meaning me, in his control Sarutobi hired the to ramen chefs to play nice and give me free food so they can give me a drug that will make me easy to manipulate"

"it's not working" Sasuke muttered as he set the table.

"the drugs don't reach my system" Naruto said as he started washing his hands after handling the raw meat "there's a seal on my tongue that absorbs all the tainted meal" the blonde poked out his tongue to show Sasuke the seal on the back of his tongue.

"cool I want one … wait why 30 bowls?" Sasuke asked as the blonde started grilling the meat and veggies.

"I like cutting into those pricks profits. Someone's paying for all that food and whether it's the ramen chefs or Sarutobi they will feel the dent in their profits thanks to my bottomless drug removing seal" Naruto said with a slightly sadistic smirk that made Sasuke chuckle "oh I got word from your brother. It seems Yuki was being chased by both Sand and Leaf ninjas so that explains that. They want her fortune. Itachi says he has it handled and that the bulk of the ninjas stopped following them. Not surprising really. It isn't productive to keep the bulk of your military outside of the village and certainly not without a reward immediately in reach"

"when they get tired of looking for this Yuki what will they do?" Sasuke asked as he gave a little of the raw meat left to the foxes.

"bounty hunting, treaties … there are many options legal or otherwise … Sakura is here" the blonde rolled his eyes as Sasuke paled "I'll go meet her" he said with amusement as he went to meet their new friend and ally in this fight …


	10. Ninja Lessons

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"bounty hunting, treaties … there are many options legal or otherwise … Sakura is here" the blonde rolled his eyes as Sasuke paled "I'll go meet her" he said with amusement as he went to meet their new friend and ally in this fight …

XXXXXXXXXX

"shit!" a now 13 year old Sasuke gasped as he was just coming into the classroom where he found a swarm of fangirls an quickly backpedaled before he was seen "what's going on?" he hissed to Naruto who just passed him.

The blonde glanced at Sakura before plopping down in his seat. Apparently Sakura knew something, but she wouldn't be the source of this, right? The second Sakura found out that Sasuke wasn't an asshole, which was a big surprise for her, she stopped her fangirl side business. There wasn't any point in continuing if Sasuke was an ally and with Naruto's access to missions there was a source of income, which was why she needed money in the first place. She kept up the weak fangirl ruse, but without the constant flow of 'advertising' the fngirl situation got better until this very moment. What is going on?

In order to find out Sasuke steeled himself and walked in the room. Naruto yawned giving Sakura a heads up and she got to Sasuke first "SASUKE MY LOVE" she yelled and wrapped her arms around him "this wasn't me. Someone created some pictures of you" she whispered in his ear as the fangirl tug of war for his flesh began.

That's the scene Iruka and Mizuki walked in on "KNOCK IT OFF AND SIT DOWN!" Iruka yelled at the top of his lungs with his scary big head jutsu in place effectively scaring everyone into their seats and shutting them up. Iruka sighed in relief and smiled as he spotted the orange clad blonde in his seat with a book propped open in front of his face "it's good to see you're on time for once Naruto-" Iruka blinked and took a closer look at the blonde only to see the blonde mop of hair was not moving "WAKE UP" he snapped as he threw an eraser at the book making it tip onto Naruto's face nudging the blonde awake.

Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he sat up "hey sensei" he said through a yawn succeeding in irritating Iruka further.

"class has started" Iruka said with an obvious vein pulsing on his temple.

Sasuke frowned as he watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye as the lecture started(he really is tired) he thought well aware that this was more than Naruto's usual messing with the instructors.

It wasn't easy paying for food for three people and keeping in contact with those outside the village. That was easy to fix to a small degree when Sasuke and Sakura started practicing trap building and scavenging. Those survival lessons Naruto taught them made it possible for them to provide, but it was more than the food. All their equipment needs constant repairs. Not so much the training dummies, which are strengthened by seals, but the camera equipment and the messenger birds. The birds alone can get expensive especially if they get sick, but if you throw in the price tag for getting a camera fixed in a different village it was a problem and each bad storm brought problems.

Money aside Naruto was also leaving constantly to get information on the Akatsuki and Sarutobi's movements. He suspects Madara set up a headquarters in Mist because the war seemed to come out of no where and there was a complete change in the Mizukage's personality, which was evident when Naruto found a file his jiji made on the people in power he met personally. The mizukage was now bloodthirsty and not the kind leader Danzo wrote about. Even Danzo made an update in the file the day the bloodline wars started saying something was wrong and another note days before he died saying he suspected that there was a connection, but he couldn't confirm anything before dying. Naruto was dead set on proving there was something going on no matter what it is and it was draining him. Though he hasn't told his friends about the trips to the war's edge yet …

The day slowly passed by and Sakura and Sasuke both managed to get out of school and find their way back to the waterfall. Both of them were a little bruised and battered by the fan mobs so they went to the infirmary and patched themselves up as they waited for Naruto who has been secretly sleeping with to hide his closed eyes all day. They had every intention of helping with the mission load from now on.

"when is he getting back? It's nearly dinnertime" Sakura asked worriedly though she knew Naruto could take care of himself.

"his birthday is next week … he has mobs of his own around this time" Sasuke said, making the pinkette scowl, bitterly as he thought of the villagers' treatment towards his friend. There was, of course, a clone getting hurt, but Naruto not only had to deal with the memories, but he also had to stay nearby and make sure the clone lasted long enough. For a typical day the super charged clone could last through a beating and disappear after the villagers leave. During these days the beatings last longer and Naruto can't risk the cone dispelling when there's people around to witness it until after he graduates in two years. It would be a dead give away if he learned about shadow clones before getting out of the obviously sabotaged academy. Both Sakura and Sasuke hated the cruelty Naruto had to put up with "give him a few more minutes. Oh, what the hell is with the sudden surge of fans? They were going crazy!"

Sakura frowned as she and Sasuke left the infirmary after applying the salve on the last of their bruises "I'll say it again. I had nothing to do with this … although I have to admit it was a damn good idea" she said as she pulled a set of photos out of her pocket.

"don't praise this person" Sasuke grumbled with a pout as he took the photos. The very first photo made his eyes pop out of his head "these are clearly fake!" he yelled as he glared at the photo of him a few years older and basically naked except or the giant shuriken he was holding in front of his manhood for some privacy.

"yep, these pictures were marketed as you in the future. I think someone managed to use that software the bingo book uses to age photos of missing ninjas so you can see what they may look like after missing for a decade … they're quite good" Sakura said as they walked through the halls.

"DON'T PRAISE THIS PERSON" Sasuke yelled again.

The pinkette tilted her head not really listening "from what I saw during the time I spied on you I know that they were too generous using a giant shuriken of all things. You should thank them"

"NO FUCKING WAY" Sasuke snapped and began shifting through the rest of the disturbing photos. As his eyes landed on the third one depicting a man nuzzling Sasuke's neck and his hand in a suggestive place near Sasuke's crotch, which was just below where the photo cut off "I'M NOT GAY!"

"of course not" Sakura said absentmindedly as she walked into the camera room. Something had caught her eye and she had to check it out "a bird?"

"ARE YOU LISTENING?" Sasuke whined not happy with Sakura who was more interested with the little yellow bird on the desk next to the extra camera equipment than the identity of his new enemy.

"sure sure, it's terrible" she said in a blasé tone without taking her eyes off the motionless bird just frozen on the desk "it looks exactly like one of the birds around here, but it isn't real … what is it?"

"hopefully an answer to some of our issues" Sasuke and Sakura turned to see the tired looking blonde "Gaara sent me some perfectly good puppet parts his brother was going to throw away and it gave me an-"

"yeah, yeah whatever. Do you think I'm gay?" Sasuke asked still dwelling on the photos.

Naruto blinked as the photos were shoved into his hands "huh?"

"GET OVER THE FUCKING PHOTOS ALREADY" Sakura snapped knocking Sasuke on the head leaving a bump on the whimpering raven's head and knocking the photos to the floor "Naruto is this to take the place of he messenger birds? We lost two more, right?"

"unfortunately we may lose more. No one got any messages because of the ID seals destroying the carriers on the birds' legs, but each time our birds leave their mistaken for Konoha birds and are killed to intercept any message. We're running out of options so this puppet bird may be our only chance" Naruto whistled and the bird came to life and perched on Naruto's shoulder "it's completely wooden and has a mimicry seal to appear like a local bird in the area it's in. A really strong reverse gravity seal makes it so lightweight that it can fly fast using the motion seals on the wings and there's no carrier on the legs so it won't be mistaken for a messenger bird" Naruto poked the feathered chest and it popped open revealing a large cavity "we put 6he messages here. I'm also working on a camera for one eye, a projecting feature for the other eye and some hidden blades or poison needles. The cameras would be safer if they can move out of the way during a storm and we won't need to worry about maintaining the messenger birds" Naruto explained with a yawn.

Sakura frowned "it's a brilliant idea, but you weren't running yourself ragged over it, were you?"

The ROOT agent shook his head as he gestured for the bird to perch on the desk again "no, my clones were testing this theory for about a month now. I'm tired because of a few missions I took too close together. That's all"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow "were you taking more missions than you told us about?"

"I …" Naruto started to say that he didn't, but there was no point in lying "it wasn't really a mission, but I have been leaving you guys with a clone more often-"

"why didn't you say so? we could help! We'll be graduating in two years and taking missions anyway so we should start before that and help. We're strong enough to help share this burden" Sakura argued a little hurt that Naruto felt he had to shoulder everything. At first it made sense because they didn't even know the basics, but now they're doing training that's far more advanced than their classmates and they know the shadow clone technique so they can leave the village for a while without people noticing.

Naruto sighed "the trips I've been taking are to Mist and you guys aren't ready for that" he said firmly leaving no room for an argument on that front, but did pause to think about it "you guys can start with something smaller. I don't have access to D-rank missions so these will have a certain degree of danger. Are you sure?"

Sakura pumped her fist in the air in her excitement "yes! Like I said we're strong enough"

"it's not physical strength that concerns me" Naruto said baffling the two fellow rebels "you'll see what I mean … the ninja career has a much darker and deeper effect on people than even you both have experienced" Naruto looked at them knowing that though they have been dealt a horrid hand in life, but seeing death is different than taking it with your own hands and that's what they'll need to do as ninja especially ninjas who were fighting a monster hiding behind the hokage hat. To win this they'll have to see and counter anything Sarutobi might do be it murder, torture or anything else. The two in front of him won't return the same "Yuki has a problem. Since she took over Gato's business she's been investing in villages that would turn over a hefty profit in trade if fixed up. She recently took over the village of Wave"

"the village of Wave?" Sasuke muttered as he pointed out the village on the map hanging on the wall "it's right on the water"

Naruto nodded "exactly, with a bridge the economy would explode, but there's a gang of bandits holding the town hostage. Itachi can't leave her side so we're going … right now" he said and chuckled as the two scrambled to seal what they needed into scrolls and create several clones to put up with the fan mobs. Naruto showed them the seal he uses to make the clones more durable and left a few of his own behind before they headed out.

The blonde clone picked up the photos as he and the others set out to do something until the morning came "something seems off"

"what?" a second blonde asked quietly so the pinkettes and ravens didn't hear him.

"I don't know … I'll look at these, go with the other uss to continue getting the puppets online" Naruto's clone said and closed himself in a room so Sasuke's clones wouldn't see him examining the photos … if he knew any better he'd say there was a coded message hidden in in the photos … and something else too …


	11. Twisting Waters

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"I don't know … I'll look at these, go with the other uss to continue getting the puppets online" Naruto's clone said and closed himself in a room so Sasuke's clones wouldn't see him examining the photos … if he knew any better he'd say there was a coded message hidden in in the photos … and something else too …

XXXXXXXXXX

"are you both ok?" Naruto asked when he noticed his trainees were lagging a bit behind and having an issue balancing as they jumped.

"no … maybe" Sasuke admitted as a dizzy spell hit him forcing him to stop or risk falling out of the tree and apparently Sakura felt the same for she stopped and leaned against the tree she was in breathing heavily.

Naruto stopped and watched his masked teammates carefully "take a chakra pill"

"why? … it can't be chakra depletion" Sakura insisted, but as she took a few deep breaths she realized her chakra was actually quite low "when did that happen?"

"when you made your clones" Naruto said matter of factly.

Sasuke looked at the mask of his higher ranked friend "but we used shadow clones all the time before and they never did this to us" he said pointedly, but removed his mask to take a pill anyway ignoring the subtle green tint that the mask's seals applied to his hair.

"that's because you've both been making one or two clones an hour. There's a big difference between one ever hour adding up to 12 a day and making 12 clones in one sitting" Naruto explained as he ran his fingers through his currently brown hair.

"that does make sense, but why are we only feeling the effects now when we've been running for a few hours? Shouldn't we have noticed right away? … and do all these masks change hair color?" Sakura asked as she pulled off her mask to pop the pill in her mouth and placed the mask, which changed her hair to a dark color, back on.

"you both removed your gravity restraints right?" the ROOT agent said with a hint of amusement in his tone that hinted to a smirk behind that mask.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest clearly feeling a little irritated with the hints, but had to admit she did feel a lot better " of course we took the seals off. How else would we keep up with you? … oh … the rebound effect" she said as she and Sasuke suddenly face palmed their masks.

"that's right. The chakra you were usually using to power the gravity level of the seal reentered your system and the extra strength you gained sent the false impression to your body telling it that you were not being effected by chakra depletion. Oh, and no. Most of the masks have seals, but not all of them. In fact I took a mask without seals to Sand. If you have light colored hair the seals will make it dark and if you have dark hair a bit of color would be added, but only half of the masks have these seals and each one is a little different. Switching out the masks can make identification much harder and you can eat with them on you know" the ROOT agent chuckled as both his teammates shot him a glare he could feel through the masks "it takes practice. I'll show you when we camp for the night … so, ready to continue?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke glanced towards Sakura before looking at Naruto again and nodded "we're ready" he said and the team set out again. It took two and a half days, but they finally approached the river as it started to get dark "this looks like the map so the bridge is up a few miles and on the other side is the village"

"precisely" Naruto said as he noticed ashes in the water "they're camping up river nearby the bridge" he said seriously.

"how do you know?" Sakura asked curiously.

"ashes in the water. The village is far inland. Too far inland to have ashes in the water and no one, least of all a big enough number of people to make this many, will be out on the water's edge with bandits running around. The only conclusion is that the bandits chose that spot. Lets wait for complete darkness and then look around to gage what we're dealing with … most importantly the hostage situation" Naruto said and they silently ran across the river.

"what should we do about our own campsite?" Sasuke asked as he realized that the trees really wouldn't provide good cover if they wanted to stay hidden while sleeping.

Naruto responded by making a hand sign as he jumped out of the tree and hitting the forest floor. The earth swelled a tiny bit and the trees shifted slightly as a small cave opening appeared "we'll stay here" he said as he hid the spot with a genjutsu.

The jutsu made cave shot straight down ten feet before opening up to a small chamber that was barely big enough for two full grown people. It was just enough space, however, for three teenage ninjas to wait until night to start observing the bandits' whereabouts. At least that was the plan, but there was an issue. In the distance they heard a set of enraged voices and the ninjas slipped out of their cave to see what was going on. They found a group of three smug looking bandits confronting some of the people in town who were clearly pissed at what was said.

"fuck you! Just take your money and go already" one villager yelled.

The bald bandit in the front of the group smirked "you don't get to make the demands here remember? We have your kids and we will gladly blow them up with the bridge if you don't cooperate" the bandit smirked as the villagers deflated in defeat "right, now hurry up" he said and waited. For a moment no one moved, but then three young women stepped forward.

An old man reached out and grabbed one woman's arm to stop her from going any closer to the bandits "Tsunami don't-"

"they have Inari … I can't just do nothing Dad" Tsunami said desperately as she pulled her arm out of her father's grasp.

The bandits leered at the pretty women "we're going to have some fun tonight" they cheered earning harsh glares.

Naruto grabbed Sakura by her arm as she saw the women being taken away "we can't let those women sacrifice themselves" she hissed worried for the women being lead away.

"we don't know their numbers or where the hostages are or what they're using to blow the bridge up. We're at a disadvantage as long as the children are in danger too" Naruto whispered firmly.

Sakura scowled from behind her mask and clenched her fists in frustration "so we what? … do nothing?"

"nope … Sasuke take this" Naruto handed Sasuke an ear piece so they could talk "go ahead of them an make a small distraction. Just a natural distraction to make them look away once they're out of sight from the villagers. Sakura stay with me and help, but get ready to fight with Sasuke" Naruto ordered …

XXXXXXXXXX

"this is almost funny" the Naruto clone chuckled.

The other blonde clones looked away from the bird they were adjusting to look at the pictures that the first clone had spread out on his work station "what is it? Did you solve this code you mentioned?" they asked and looked at the picturez that were arranged so they could easily read the message "clever, but we need to stop them before someone else clues in"

It was a simple code if you knew where to look. All you need is to notice is the one word hidden in the reflection of the shuriken Sasuke was holding and that will lead you to the words hidden in the reflective surfaces in the other pictures. The entire message, which was in kanji, read 'we know about the hokage and want to help. Meet us', but it wasn't the only message either …

"why do you have a second string of code?" a blonde clone asked as he pointed at the notes not related to the reflected code, which according to the notes it said 'I want to help'. A short and simple message most likely involving one person considering the use of 'I' as opposed to 'we' in the other message, which implied more than one person was involved.

"look in the background of each picture" the first clone said.

The clones did so and frowned "oh I see … so two or more people are using the reflections for a code and another person is sneaking a code in the background … they probably aren't working together, but clearly this person using the background for the second code knows about the people using the reflections and is piggy backing on their creative photography"

"so it seems and considering all the pictures were taken in the same place and at the same time it stands to reason that that's the time and place to meet, but they seem to be trying to contact Sakura and Sasuke not the boss" the code breaking clone pondered out loud.

"yeah … it's possible that they figured out Sasuke and Sakura are on friendly terms and all it would take is a quick background check to put a theory together, which shouldn't be to hard to believe. If the Uchihas' deaths were even remotely suspicious to anyone it stands to reason someone would see the death of Sakura's family as suspicious especially if they have reasons of their own to see the hokage for what he is" the clone said.

The code breaking clone nodded "true … it must be a recent thing that provoked this need for support against the hokage because the boss did background checks and no one had a reason to take this stance … well we may not know who the reflection code people are, but we can guess who the person using the background code is and how that person knows. Of course they probably didn't realize other people could be on their side until recently, but they're being cautious by making a separate hidden code just in case this backfires … the boss and Sasuke and Sakura should meet them, but they only just got to Wave"

"well the bird is ready for a test drive so lets find the spot and keep an eye on it to see who is trying to make contact and when we discover who we're dealing with lets send a code to them telling them to wait" the clone who picked up one of now three bird cameras said.

The rest of the clones nodded "we'll check out the gossip channels and see if we can figure out what news would provoke these messages" they said as they left the complex hidden behind the waterfall and soon after a bird flew out as well …

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tsunami I'm scared" the brown haired woman who stepped forward with the other two women whispered to her fellow captive.

"it's ok Haru" Tsunami whispered back trying to stay calm, but once the village lights vanished from view she started to lose hope, but the fact that the third captive Minami was completely calm and not being touched by the bandits made her feel a little better "Minami are you all righf?" she whispered so the bandits wouldn't hear her, but much to her and Haru's shock Minami shot them a smirk and in a puff of smoke turned into a completely different person with greenish blue hair and ninja armor.

"I couldn't be better. I am in charge after all" Minami smirked.

Tsunami paled "you were a new school teacher … you gave them Inari!" she screamed in anger feeling so betrayed.

"gag the bitches" Minami ordered as a strong sea breeze carrying a slight mist blew by making her and the other bandits close their eyes for a moment.

"got it boss!" the three bandits yelled and closed in on poor Tsunami and Haru. The two real captives struggled as they were bound gagged and dragged the rest of the way to the campsite next to the bridge where 40 other bandits were waiting with the frightened children …


	12. Growth

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"got it boss!" the three bandits yelled and closed in on poor Tsunami and Haru. The two real captives struggled as they were bound gagged and dragged the rest of the way to the campsite next to the bridge where 40 other bandits were waiting with the frightened children …

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke twitched in surprise as someone's presence appeared behind him, but once he saw that it was Sakura he relaxed "ready?" he asked as they watched the bandits from a spot in the trees.

"yes, Naruto wants us to focus on the children" Sakura whispered as she stood next to Sasuke.

"true, but he can't answer now right?" Sasuke asked curiously assuming Naruto couldn't speak into his own earpiece since he had swapped out with the villagers during the mist. The bandits would notice any odd mutterings.

"both villagers were dragged back to the village by one of Naruto's clones" Sakura said as she watched the two women being guided by the leering bandits.

"yeah … wait, dragged? Did they put up a fight?" Sasuke asked curiously as he tapped the earpiece in his ear waiting for the signal for them to fight. Since Naruto had the earpiece, not the clones, Sasuke didn't know what happened with Sakura after Naruto took he women's places.

The ninja with pink hair that was hidden by the mask she was wearing nodded "yep, one of them at least"

 **Flashback**

"how do we do this?" Sakura asked right after Sasuke left.

"we'll switch with the three villagers and my clone will take them back to the village" Naruto said as he made two clones, one clone to take the hostages home and the other to take the third villager's place, but frowned as one of the villagers broke away from the hostages and revealed herself as the leader "shit … I know her … she's in the bingo book. Not someone you want to cross"

"does this change things?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"yes, but only for you. I'll use a clone and we'll swap instead of you. I'll separate the leader while you and Sasuke get the children out of here" Naruto said as he henged himself and one clone to look like the women who they will be replacing "ready Sasuke?" he asked through the earpiece.

" _read … just say when and I'll use a sea mist_ " Sasuke answered over the earpiece.

Naruto waited a few moments before seeing the best chance "now" Naruto said through the earpiece and a split second later a mist blew passed them.

Sakura blinked for only a moment and suddenly the two henged Narutos two of the three were gone and replaced with two women who were clearly confused "it worked" she said very relieved and started to try to explain what was going on to the confused women "it's alright, we-"

"take me back! They have Inari" the woman snapped. Thankfully they were out of earshot.

The other village woman winced "Tsunami calm down-"

"no! I have to save my son!" Tsunami snapped blinded by betrayal and rage as she tried to walk off towards where she thought the bandits were, but the Naruto clone blocked her path though she wasn't as intimidated as she should've been since thee ninjas were young and shorter compared to her.

"leave that to us and go back to the village. Our mission is too remove the bandits … but it's not to protect you. You are weak. I'm sorry if that seems rude, but you can't even hold your own against one of those bandits. If you get involved my boss's teammates will try to protect you and they'll be killed doing so because the boss needs to handle the very high ranked leader. If that happens the boss can't guarantee what will happen, but the most likely result is you getting everyone, including you and your son, killed" the clone said bluntly.

Though it did sound very harsh Sakura knew it was true to a point. Naruto was not fighting at his peak condition because of all those back to back missions so he needed to focus on just the leader. Both her and Sasuke would have their attentions split between the kids and bandits so they didn't need another distraction on their first mission. Even if they were more experienced it wouldn't matter. A civilian shouldn't be involved if they wanted everything to go smoothly.

For a split second the mother seemed too relent, but then she glared at the clone "I made a mistake trusting someone with my son and it got him into this so no-" she didn't get another word out before the clone knocked her out with a swift jab to the gut.

"are you going to behave?" the clone asked the other civilian who quickly nodded as the clone draped Tsunami into his shoulder "good … go ahead Sakura" the clone said before walking, or carrying in Tsunami's case, the women home …

 **Flashback Over**

"I understand why she felt that way" Sasuke muttered.

It reminded him of how he felt when he found his family being attacked. He wanted so much help that he ran into the clearly dangerous situation and what happened? He was badly injured and nearly got Naruto and Itachi killed because they were trying to protect him.

Looking back on it now he knew it was a stupid thing to do. At the same time though he knew he couldn't not try to save someone he cared about. Of course this means he had to train and learn how to handle a situation like that in case he did find himself needing to fight to protect someone. Sakura also felt the same way …

"here they are" Sakura said as the 'women' were dragged to the center of the horde of bandits. The second the leader was about to sit to enjoy a show of her bandits raping two defenseless women in front of the brats, who were cowering in a group behind her, everything changed. An explosion went off making her whirl around only to see the bandits who were closest to the women were dead and she was forced to dodge the kunais from two identical masked ninjas.

With Naruto and his clone handling the leader Sasuke and Sakura slipped towards the children "we got you. it's ok, we're taking you home" Sasuke said calmly as he watched the scrambling bandits who were throwing weapons at their leader's opponent and apparently forgot about the kids for the moment.

"we don't know who you are! Go away!" one brat snapped thinking the bandits were gone. In reality Sakura put a genjutsu over the kids so they couldn't see the fight, but unfortunately the whining was loud enough to bring the bandits back to their senses.

"get the brats!" one bandit roared and the remaining bandits charged with weapons drawn. No doubt they were going to use the children against them, but Sasuke refused to let that happen. He and Sakura managed to fight back the bandits, but one slipped passed their defenses and got to the group of kids.

The bandit raised his axe over a child "we only need one of you" he said as he brought the axe down …

"no!" Sasuke exclaimed before knocking a bandit out and rushing over to save the kids … it was all in slow motion. The axe was slowly descending and about to hit the child. Out of reflex Sasuke took out a kunai and blocked the axe blade. After knocking the axe out of the bandit's hand he plunged it into the bandit's neck like he did many times during training with the dummies back home. This however was very different.

The kunai would've been stopped by the hard wood of the dummy, but this wasn't a dummy. He could feel the resistance of the flesh as the sharp blade sliced into it followed by the splatter of something warm hitting his face. It took a moment to realize that the substance that was gushing out of the bandit's neck and hit his face was blood. Sadly there wasn't an actual moment to spare for that realization …

Sakura punched out a bandit and looked up just in time to notice that a set of six bandits were about to charge Sasuke who was froze at the sight of blood. She did the first thing that came to mind, which was to hit the ground creating a quake that sent boulders flying at the bandits. That too went differently than training. The screams from the bandits as they were crushed beneath the rubble and the blood on the boulders as they rolled revealing the remains of the person under them shook her to the ore. No amount of training could've prepared her for such a horrific sight and like Sasuke she froze for a moment …

Seeing a chance the remaining bandits went in for the kill only to be cut off by Naruto and both his clones since the clone who escorted the villagers returned "your leader had to cut out early" Naruto said as he tossed their leader's severed head at their feet. Not one bandit had a chance to react before Naruto killed them.

Since their boss could handle the bandits just fine the clones went to check on the kids who were walking in circles. Clearly they thought they weren't in danger and were trying to get home, but were trapped in the genjutsu. The clones sighed and canceled the genjutsu. Sakura had good intentions with putting them under a pleasant genjutsu to keep them calm, but if they had no reason to be afraid they wouldn't want to cooperate, which lead to the tough brat mouthing off. Yes they will see the mess surrounding them, but at least they'll behave. Of course to be fair the clones made sure to quickly guide them through the trees to avoid most of the bloody sight.

Sakura and Sasuke snapped out of their momentary dazes to see everything has changed. The bandits were all dead and the children were being lead away by two Narutos. The silence was almost painful as Naruto walked up to them …

"if you didn't that kid would've died" Naruto said as he touched Sasuke's shoulder comfortingly. After Sasuke nodded silently Naruto turned to Sakura "if you didn't Sasuke would be dead" he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. After a few minutes of silence and Naruto's unspoken support they felt a little better "lets go home. I'll tell you about the fun thing my clones found in those pictures of Sasuke" Naruto said cheerily glad to see them perk up even though the first kill will leave a permanent mark.

"MY PICTURES? What did you find? Do you know who made them? Please tell me you'll stop them!" Sasuke yelled fully snapping out of his daze as he remembered the perverted fangirl pictures from before they left.

Sakura rolled her eyes as they all began walking away from the scene "oh it's not a big deal-"

"you're not the one naked and plastered all over Konoha!" Sasuke whined

Naruto chuckled as he mentally ordered the two clones with the kids to stay and help clean up as well as explain everything to the villagers before dispelling "my clones back home are looking into it and testing the bird cameras. They're sending one to Yuki to tell her everything went well with the mission to remove the bandits"

XXXXXXXXXX

A blonde clone poked the bird's chest revealing that it was hallow inside and placed a message inside "the boss is coming back so I'll send the bird" the clone said to the clones looking at the screens.

"yeah … hopefully they get here fast. Sasuke and Sakura are down to their last few clones" the monitor clone said with a sweat drop on his temple as the three pinkettes and ravens dragged themselves passed the doorway looking completely run down "those fangirl mobs have gotten worse- got it! That's the spot so land right over there" the clone ordered another clone as the view from the cameras in the bird's eyes finally settled on the area meaning it landed on a branch.

After releasing the bird with the message for Yuki the clone joined the others at the monitors and raised an eyebrow in shock "these are our code makers huh … we guessed those two, but not the third"

"yeah, but it explains the timing" another clone commented as they watched the three code makers from a distance through the eyes of a bird …


	13. Clone Race

(I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

"Yeah, but it explains the timing" another clone commented as they watched the three code breakers from a distance through the eyes of a bird …

XXXXXXXXXX

"No." All the remaining Sakura and Sasuke clones, well one Sasuke clone and two Sakura clones, said to the five blondes in front of them.

A Naruto clone sighed, "Your originals aren't even here yet and there's a chance you both will pop like all the others after class so who's going to make the meeting with the people who made the codes? They want to talk to Sakura not Sasuke or me. We should just send the code back telling them to change the time and place-"

"No! Let us try to make the meeting today." The pinkettes snapped stubbornly.

The blonde clones have been watching the spot where the pictures were made and found every other day the culprits would come and make more coded pictures. The recent pictures were decoded and more instructions were revealed, but Naruto's clones wouldn't hand over the information. It was for a good reason though. The clones were on their last legs and would most likely expire before they can make the meeting, which was after school. To add to the trouble their originals, who were racing back despite the real Naruto's objections, weren't going to make it on time.

"You're both on your last legs." One clone warned, but received stubborn looks as a response. "Fine … try to make it, but if it's too much I'll slip them a message saying it isn't a good idea to meet."

The last Sasuke clone frowned, "But what about you? Can't one of you henge- … oh, right."

"Good, you see the problem. Considering who we're dealing with using any illusions will back fire fast and we don't want to scare potential allies. Besides, it'd be impolite to pose as someone else and trick a future friend." A blonde clone said logically.

"So, there's no choice. It has to be me and Sasuke who meets them first." Sakura's clone said with a sigh.

"Or your clones or just Sakura, yes. Our friends will no doubt want to check your chakra so that must match … if you make it." The blonde clone said wondering if the three remaining clones of his friends would even survive until lunch let alone the meeting time after school. Those fan mobs caused a lot of damage even though each clone had a protective seal!

A pinkette looked at each blonde clone, "No matter what, let me and Sasuke handle it. We can at least try and if we can't then we'll handle the code. We need to show we can help in this way."

One blonde clone sighed, "Fine, but be careful and don't be arrogant about it. If you need help just give me a sign. I can't really help with the meeting until you meet them and they know I am a friend of yours, but I can find ways to protect you from the mobs so you'll have more of a chance." He said getting smiles from the three determined pink and black haired clones. "We should go or we'll be off our usual school arrival times."

"Ok!" Sasuke and the Sakura clones cheered as they left.

"Think this'll work?" A blonde clone asked the little fox rubbing against his leg as a different blonde clone left for school too, but he only got a yip in return. "Yeah." The blonde chuckled as he scratched behind the fluffy ear. After spoiling the other foxes the remaining blonde clones went to the monitoring room and looked at the screen that displayed Hiashi Hyuga and Shikaku Nara…

XXXXXXXXXX

"You just missed her. She left with Shikamaru five minutes ago." Shikaku said as he saw Hiashi enter his family compound.

"I didn't want to take it that far." Hiashi said looking beyond exhausted.

Shikaku sighed, "Don't keep beating yourself up over it-"

"Why shouldn't I? My daughter was disowned!" Hiashi snapped uncharacteristically, "I should never have let the elders insist that the next heir should be chosen by strength. It was never done before, so I should've fought against it, but I didn't and now Hinata is banned from the compound."

"Inoichi tried to talk the elders out of that, but he said they refused to budge on the issue. You should know Hinata is settling in just fine. Shikamaru even started a hobby with her. They take pictures in the forest. My wife framed a few she saying they were really good … I'll watch over her and if you want, Inoichi offered to try talking to her." Shikaku suggested to the heartbroken father to help in someway.

Hiashi sighed, "No … thank Inoichi for the offer, but I want her to settle at the Nara compound and talk to her personally first … I need to check on Hanabi … she isn't taking Hinata's disownment well at all, especially with the elders constantly pushing her to start training to be the next leader." Hiashi said solemnly before turning to walk away, but he paused a moment, "thank you for taking her in."

The Nara clan head smiled, "It's no trouble." He said and as Hiashi walked away he spotted a bird perched on the branch of a nearby tree never realizing the camera hidden in the chest under a seal that made a genjutsu of feathers. As far as he knew it was just a bird.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura's clone took a deep breath and prepared herself for the mob she was meant to participate in as her other clone watched her back from the roof of the school, "I hope Sasuke can out run them this time." She mumbled. After all, it was the fangirl mob that destroyed most of them so they tried to avoid them at all costs. Sadly, that is not an easy task and in those circumstances the Sakuras have to climb to the front of the mob to keep the Sasuke from popping, "Here goes nothing … GET AWAY FROM MY LOVE, INO-PIG!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh shit!" The pinkette on the roof of the school paled as she saw the Uchiha clone running for dear life from Ino. She could see her fellow pink haired clone run forward to catch up and cut off Ino. Ino was cut off by her 'rival', but out of nowhere a mob of fans rounded the corner coming close to running them both over due to bad timing that made it impossible to merge with the mob instead.

This clone raced into the school vents and slid down to floor level knowing that if she wasn't there to swap out in time it would raise questions. It didn't matter if she came out looking a bit messy, since these mobs always caused a mess. For now, she was more concerned about hiding the fact that they were clones. It was soon clear upon peeking through a vent that Sasuke made it to the classroom by jumping through the window and the mob broke apart soon after he slammed the window shut.

To be sure the current danger was done, the clone moved silently through the vents to locate the other clone who raced into the school with Ino to keep from getting plowed over by crazed fans. Of course, she soon found her fellow clone and watched through a different vent in the ceiling. However, she noticed an exhausted Ino, who was panting next to the pinkette pretending to be tired from the short run, took a senbon from her pocket and was going to stab the clone.

"Sasuke … is mine." Ino panted and tried to steady herself.

"You'll never get him-whoa!" Sakura pretended to slip the second Ino lunged forward to stab her with the ninja style needle.

As a result, Ino only stabbed air and lost her balance, which made her fall forward. The clone hiding in the vent quickly slid out and jumped down to kick the trashcan into Ino's fall path. Ino went straight into the trash without seeing the second Sakura and began struggling in the confined space that trapped her. With a smirk on both the clones' faces as they were about to continue doing their thing, either getting to class or hiding, the trashcan fell over and on the first clone's foot.

The clone that was originally in the vent just stood there in shock as her fellow clone was dispelled, (I'm going to pretend I wasn't just taken down by a trashcan.) She thought dumbfounded, while standing there watching Ino's legs kicked wildly in her attempt to escape, "Umm … see you in class, I guess. I'll cuddle with Sasuke as you get you piggy butt out of there." The clone said as she walked away, but pausing only for a moment to take the senbon that fell to the ground.

"Don't touch Sasuke-" Ino was mid scream when she realized that screaming in an enclosed space was a bad idea. Not that there was anything she could do that would make Sakura stay and help, since the clone had no sympathy for the girl who just tried to stab her. She ignored Ino and hid the senbon in her pocket as she went into her class.

Iruka looked at her and immediately pointed to her seat not I the mood for fangirl craziness today, "Have a seat … where's Ino?"

"She was behind me … I guess she couldn't get out of the trashcan." The clone said with false concern.

Mizuki raised an eyebrow, "She fell in a trashcan … and can't get out?" He commented almost in disbelief as several students snickered except for Sasuke who wanted to, but knew he had to keep his emo mask in place.

"Yes, sensei." The pink haired clone said as she went to sit in her seat next to Hinata.

"Which hall way?" Iruka asked wondering where he went wrong with Ino's training and planned on discussing this with Inoichi later, but before Sakura could tell him he heard the sound of something rolling down the hallway. When he opened the door he saw Naruto carefully roll a trashcan into the room.

"Idiot! I said to get help, not roll me to it!" Ino snapped her voice being very muffled with being stuck upside down in the trashcan, but to make her anger clear she kicked at him with her legs.

Naruto stepped back out of range of the blind kicks and pouted sadly, "I couldn't leave you there. You nearly rolled yourself down the road."

"Thank you, Naruto." Iruka said over Ino's loud complaints and the other snickers in the room. After Naruto went to his seat, the instructor glanced at his colleague, "Give me a hand Mizuki." After a couple minutes of struggling, the two instructors managed to pry Ino out of the trashcan.

"Ok, Ino, go clean up and you can join the class." Iruka said before grabbing the slimy collar because Ino tried to attack Sakura. "I'll go with you if you insist on causing trouble."

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." Ino growled and shot the pinkette a nasty glare before leaving on her own.

"She doesn't seem happy with you … Sakura, what did you do?" Hinata asked softly with a shy hesitant tone as the lecture started.

The clone thought for a second before deciding to make a little move on the one person she knew was responsible for the codes in the pictures of Sasuke, "Nothing … she needs to calm down and get her point back." Sakura whispered letting Hinata see the senbon she took from Ino.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly for a split second, "Hope she doesn't bother you."

"Me too! I have something to do!" Sakura said before focusing on Sasuke not noticing the curious look on Hinata's face.

The lecture went well and once the clones thought they were home free the final challenge, which was getting away from the mob after they leave. Sakura noticed something off though. Ino didn't return to class. The clone knew Ino wouldn't miss a chance to get at Sasuke who was close to being dispelled.

"Wait for me, my love!" Sakura yelled once the instructors left, but as planned Sasuke bolted out the window in his attempt to escape with Sakura on his heels. However, just off the school grounds was hiding by the gate. The insane fangirl tossed a stunning bomb at them when they turned towards her direction to avoid the growing mob coming from the other direction.

Sakura felt herself being pulled back just before the blast and saw Naruto who dragged her quickly into the closest alley, "Thanks … did Sasuke?"

"He was dispelled, but I made it look like he swapped out … you're barely hanging on." The blonde clone commented as Sakura tried to stand.

Sakura panted, "Yeah, but I can make it … do something for me." She said as her body flickered slightly as she desperately tried to stay intact. The pink haired clone whispered something into his ear. The blonde nodded and disappeared just as the dust settled …

Sakura walked into mess just in time to see Ino realize that the thing she was hugging was not Sasuke like she thought, but a really big bug. A horrified scream from all fangirls echoed through the village and Sakura used that moment to carefully slip by.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata and Shikamaru looked up once Sakura ran into the forested area, "Hi Sakura-"

"No time! Confirm it's me!" Sakura snapped not caring that she interrupted Hinata since she felt her strength going fast.

"O-oh!" Hinata stuttered a little taken aback at the fact that Sakura knew what Shikamaru wanted her to do, but she activated her byakugan anyway and nodded when she identified Sakura's chakra as her own. "She's Sakura, but-"

"I'm fine!" Sakura snapped knowing Hinata was concerned about the very low chakra. "It's normal. You three want answers, no doubt." The clone visibly flickered and she ignored the confused looks as she saw a bird fly down to circle her. "Want answers? Follow that bird!" She exclaimed before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru exclaimed with a frown, "What did she mean by three? We were the only ones making codes here, right?" He asked a clearly confused Hinata as the bird began circling around them like it was waiting.

They heard someone jump down from the trees behind and turned to see a familiar face, "Shino?!" Hinata gasped.

"Yes … I was trying to contact someone else using insect codes." Shino answered as he adjusted his glasses.

"You were onto Sakura, too, but didn't want her? Who were you trying to contact then?" Shikamaru aked wondering if he missed something.

"A family friend." Shino said simply.

With that question answered as cryptically as possible the bird flew off with the three code creators in tow …


	14. Growing Forces

(I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruto X Konan / Hinata / Tayuya**

 **Last Time:**

With that question answered as cryptically as possible the bird flew off with the three code creators in tow …

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"So this is where he died." Shino said quietly as he viewed the collapsed area that was once the forest above the ROOT compound. "His insects didn't live long enough to tell us much."

Naruto nodded as he patted the fake bird that perched on his shoulder, "Hiruzen set off explosives to collapse what was left of the compound though … considering what I saw on the tape … I doubt there was too much that would've stayed standing even without the help of bombs." He said as he smelled the tiniest amount of explosives that remained even after all these years.

Shino touched the ground letting a little beetle climb across his skin, "His insects came to us that day after he was killed. That's the only reason we knew he died. "

"I know Torune loved his family, but I doubt he mentioned me." Naruto said casually as he thought back fondly on the former ROOT agent he also considered a brother.

"You're correct," Shino said as he calmly watched the beetle, "Torune did mention there was a ROOT agent that I mostly likely will know one day because he is my age, but he never said who. When his last few weak insects came … we thought everyone died, but his insects did manage to tell us 'the little one lived' before they died too. I assumed that meant the ROOT agent he told me was about my age lived … when Hinata and Shikamaru suspected Sasuke and Sakura of certain hidden agendas I just took advantage."

Naruto chuckled, "That was clever … Torune taught you the code we use, didn't he?"

Shikamaru shook himself out of the stunned daze he and Hinata have been in since seeing their blonde classmate at the place behind a waterfall, which was where the 'bird' took them, "Wait, we never saw you or any code-" He and Hinata's jaws dropped and Hinata fished out some of their photos. "The beatles on the leaves." He deadpanned feeling stupid for not seeing it earlier. In every photo there was a scattering of insects. He didn't know the code, but it was clear that was the means of writing the message.

"Yes. Torune taught me how to use the code with insects too." Shino said beforehand glancing at Shikamaru, "Problem?" He asked noticing the looks Hinata was giving both him and Naruto.

"How?" She asked before finally settling her puzzled gaze on the blonde.

"How what? Please be more clear." Shino remarked as he adjusted his glasses.

Hinata frowned and tore her eyes away from Naruto to look at Shino in annoyance, "You said this Torune never told you who the agent was so how did you know it was Naruto and not anyone else? You must've known."

"I didn't know until today." Shino said bluntly.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "But you said he was family."

"And he is. I only needed to know that my brother cared for him to consider him family. As for why I didn't think either Sasuke or Sakura were the one I wanted … put simply, a ROOT agent wouldn't be so obvious." Shino said almost sounding amused.

Naruto looked around and gestured for everyone to follow him, "You mean the flinching." He said knowingly getting a nod from the bug ninja.

Hinata sighed with a nod, "Sasuke stopped flinching for a little bit … he seemed too comfortable, but it suddenly disappeared the next day like it never happened. You actually call that obvious enough to rule out them as ROOT agents?" She said in disbelief getting a sharp nod from Shino.

"Yeah Sasuke never would've slipped if he had my training ... they became friends the day before. I told them to try and act exactly like they'd normally would in public, but I apparently needed to give Sasuke some acting lessons … we need to hurry, the nightly patrol is starting soon." Naruto said as he as he lead them deep into the Backhillls.

"Where are we going? … and where is Sasuke and Sakura? The thing popped and the bird took use to you … a surprising discovery … no offense, I just never expected you …" Shikamaru said sheepishly.

"I'll take that as a compliment … my jiji trained me well." Naruto frowned at the nearly suspicious looks that came to Hinata and Shikamaru's faces.

It wasn't a big surprise though since he hasn't explained anything beyond telling Shino about Torune. The simple fact that the bird lead Hinata, Shino and Shikamaru to him proved that Sasuke and Sakura were connected. After all, Sakura told them to follow the bird, but as far as they know the 'jiji' he mentioned was the hokage since his goofy persona refers to the hokage as jiji. Shino, however, knew of ROOT and probably assumed it wasn't what it sounded like, which to someone who knew nothing about what's going on it'd sound like Naruto was on the hokage's side. That, of course, couldn't be farther than the truth.

"The jiji you're thinking of is not the hokage. I can't very well go around calling him by anything that doesn't imply total trust and, believe me, he needs to think I'm under his control." Naruto said, guiding through the trees from the ground since the couldn't race through the treetops yet. That's just not taught until after being given genin teams or if you meet a ROOT agent, whichever comes first ...

The waterfall was heard rumbling in the distance and became visible only moments later. Of course, interests were peeked when the ROOT agent stepped behind the curtain of water, but did not come out. Curiosity made them follow suit and they spotted Naruto just standing there. The blonde smiled and poked the seal on the stone wall making the door suddenly open sending the three unsuspecting teens sprawling to the compound's floor.

"Fucking hell-" Hinata started to snap after hitting the floor, but stopped and stared at the compound she tumbled into not realizing Naruto was looking at her in shock himself. He didn't expect the normally timid girl to swear. Granted Naruto saw moments that made him think she had a temper, but that a slip of the tongue was not expected.

"What is this place?" Shikamaru asked stunned by the large complex hidden so nicely behind a waterfall. His eyes widened, "wait, you didn't answer my question. Where are Sa-" before he could finish the question, he heard a little snore coming from the couch in the living room just next to them.

Naruto casually followed as they went to quietly find the snoring. It was a fox. The fox was sprawled out on its comfy cushions. It just so happens the cushions were a deeply sleeping Sasuke and Sakura …

"They fell asleep the second they sat down. I tried to get them to bed, but this one decided to sit on them and refused to move." Naruto whispered, shooting the fox a mock angry look before smiling and petting the red fur making the fox stretch in sleepy state and flick its tail in a sleeping Sasuke's face. Sasuke was too tired to do anything beyond twitching his nose.

Hinata smiled, "They look so tired."

Naruto nodded, "They pushed themselves too hard to get here on time. Seeing you guys was important. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure, but Hinata and I can't stay long. My parents will get worried if we aren't back in an hour." Shikamaru said, feeling a little disappointed that he couldn't stay longer.

Before Naruto could say he understood, Shino spoke, "I sent my insects out to my father. His insects have arrived before we entered the waterfall and he wants all the details." Shino's cheeks flushed a little at the amused look Naruto sent him and realized he didn't ask Naruto first before giving away sensitive information, "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I know how the Aburame clan works. Torune told me it was almost a hive like mentality. Your insects keep you in sync for the most part and your father no doubt has been as curious as you about the sole survivor." Naruto said understandingly as he guided them to the kitchen to start some tea. "What's you're father's opinion of all this?"

Shino look visibly mad. His fist clenched and he was shaking slightly, "We … we knew something was wrong here. The hokage wasn't what we thought the source of our unease was … until Torune. He was bound by his ROOT oath so he couldn't just tell us, but he left us hints each time we saw him in the two weeks leading up to his passing." He calmed down slightly and turned to Hinata and Shikamaru, "My father wants us all on the same page so he went to your parents, Shikamaru, and as far as anyone knows you're sleeping over at my house."

"Thanks, man." Shikamaru sighed in relief before looking seriously at Naruto, "So, what now?"

"Dinner." Naruto chuckled at the deadpanned looks he got in return, "Hey, give me a break! I just got back too! Sure, I'm awake, but I'm exhausted too, you know!"

Hinata blushed sheepishly, along with Shino and Shikamaru, "Sorry, we didn't even think about that!"

The ROOT agent shrugged it off as he poured the tea and started a quick dinner for all of them, "I hope beef stroganoff is alright." He said as he went through and started cooking.

"I don't know what that is, but it smells good … do they train with you?" Hinata asked, gesturing to the two sleeping teens.

Naruto added mushrooms to the meat as he nodded, "'Yes and you can too, but be careful on what you show-"

Hinata glared, "I know. We can't say or show anything that will reveal who we are to those who aren't trustworthy." She said sharply, making the blonde realize he hit a nerve.

"Ummm … what happened to get you disowned if I may ask?" Naruto asked and glanced at Shikamaru when she ignored him.

"Tell him, Hinata. We need to be on the same page here, right?" Shikamaru said, but also got a glare that made him flinch.

Finally, after sipping her tea and calming down for a few minutes, "She asked me what'd I'd do when I'd become leader of the clan." She said softly, making everyone stop what they were dong, which was setting the table, and listen. "Ino, I mean … we were just chatting and it went into clan business. I told her that I wanted to get rid of the Caged Bird Seal … the next day I was dragged into the main courtyard and made to fight my baby sister for the right of being the heir. I would never hurt Hanabi so, I let her win … but the weird thing was that my father …" she paused to wipe away a tear, "my dad told me how they found out about my opinion of the seal and that Inoichi Yamanaka tried to save me, but never mentioned Ino. I knew something was wrong ..." She said with anger lacing tone.

Naruto started scooping out the food, "Inoichi is just as bad as the hokage and on that man's side. I can't say for if Ino intended to blab, but there's a way to find out without changing your actions in school."

"How?" Hinata asked dying for a chance to learn of the Yamanaka's secrets and do to her what she did, knowingly or not, to her. She knew the bitch didn't feel bad. After all, she never apologized…

"We need to get on the right genin teams." Naruto said.

A simple plan requiring only a two year wait ...


End file.
